WASHINGTON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- No further ban on laptops in cabins of planes flying to the U.S. from Europe will be announced this week, David Lapan, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman said Tuesday.
"This is part of our ongoing engagement with various stakeholders on this issue," DHS spokesman David Lapan said, declining to elaborate.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Fox News over the weekend that he "might" ban laptops from airplane cabins on all international flights both into and out of the United States due to "a real sophisticated (terror) threat."
"No ban," a European Commission official was quoted by U.S. media Politico, following a conference call between Kelly, European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc on Tuesday.
"Both sides have agreed to intensify technical talks and try to find a common solution," said the official.
The latest development came two months after the U.S. administration imposed the ban for direct flights from 10 Middle Eastern and North African airports. On those flights, laptops, tablets, e-readers and other electronic devices larger than a cell phone must be checked into the planes' cargo holds, where safety experts say their lithium batteries pose a potential fire risk.
