Thursday, February 2, 2012

A U.S. counterterrorism official says the government's list of suspected terrorists who are banned from flying to and within the U.S. has doubled in the past year.

The no-fly list has swelled from 10,000 to 21,000 names over the past year. The official says much of the increase is due to changes President Barack Obama called for after an attempted terror attack on Christmas 2009.

The official says that at the time, a person had to be considered a threat to aviation to be placed on the list. But now a person can be on the list if he or she is also considered a threat to domestic or international security or has attended a terror training camp.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.