TSA bans lighters past airport checkpoints.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Ken Kaye

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Travelers will no longer be allowed to carry lighters past airport security checkpoints as of April 14.

The ban is not an attack on smokers, but rather a way to prevent terrorists from igniting explosives on board an aircraft, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Christopher White said Monday.

"A lighter is an ignition source," he said. "Due to al-Qaida's continued efforts to create and improvise explosive devices, prohibiting lighters will reduce current security vulnerability."

Lighters will not be allowed in...

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