Former MI6 counter-terrorism head on new security threat

Tighter security measures are in place at airports in the United Kingdom and Europe and on all direct flights to the United States, because of what is being described as a credible security threat - and amid reports that al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Yemen are developing bombs to smuggle onto planes, which may not be detectable by current screening. Analysis is provided by Richard Barrett, a former Director of Global Counter Terrorism Operations for Britain's MI6. He held the role both before and after the 9/11 2001 attacks in the United States. From 2004 to 2013 he headed the United Nations Monitoring Team concerning Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and he has also worked for the British government in MI5, and the Foreign Office. He's the co-author of a new report on how the Syrian war has been an incubator for insurgents. Mr Barrett is now Senior Vice President for the Soufan Group in New York.