US President Bush signs '9/11 law'

WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush has signed a bill to implement unfulfilled recommendations made by the panel set up to investigate the 9/11 terror attacks.

This legislation, dubbed as "9/11 law," requires mandatory screening of incoming freight shipments with a three-year deadline for air cargo and five years for sea.

It also increases federal aid for areas believed to be at the greatest risk of terrorist attack.

The bill "builds upon the considerable progress we have made in strengthening our defenses and protecting Americans since the attacks of Sep 11, 2001," Bush said at the signing ceremony Friday.

He also seized the opportunity to urge the Congress to act soon on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which dates from the 1970s, predating cell phones and the Internet.

The measure is aimed to implement unfulfilled recommendations that the independent 9/11 Commission made three years ago in the wake of the terror attacks in 2001. It was passed the House and the Senate last week.

In 2004, the independent 9/11 Commission issued 41 recommendations covering domestic security, intelligence gathering and foreign policy.

Some of them have been implemented, including the creation of a director of national intelligence, tightening land border screening and cracking down on terror financing.