Asia Times: International mail put on hold


	September 13, 2001	atimes.com

Oceania

International mail put on hold

SYDNEY - Australia Post said that international mail deliveries to and from Australia will be delayed for up to 24 hours as airline security is tightened following the US terrorist attacks.

Australia Post said that Qantas has ordered all mail and freight leaving Paris and London be offloaded prior to departure, while mail from the US was delayed due to flight cancellations. "We understand [that the mail was offloaded] for security reasons, based on advice we received from Qantas," Australia Post spokesman Gary Highland said. "We'll store it until the restrictions are lifted." The decision comes after two aircraft crashed into New York's World Trade Centre towers and a third plane slammed into the Pentagon.

Australia Post will only be despatching international mail to countries in the Asian, South Pacific and southern African regions until flight restrictions are lifted, Highland said. Mail items posted to other international destinations will be securely stored by Australia Post until restrictions are lifted.

Highland said that Australia Post has standard and confidential security measures in place at all of its facilities. "We have reminded our staff to exercise particular vigilance in handling the mail," he said.

Meanwhile, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the new owner of Australia's second-largest phone company Cable & Wireless Optus, has warned customers that they might have trouble calling New York and Washington in the wake of the terrorist attacks. SingTel said that the number of calls to the United States on its network increased by 35 times in the two hours after the first news of the attacks came through.

SingTel, which listed on the Australian Stock Exchange this week after buying the former Cable & Wireless Optus, said that US phone companies have advised of congestion on their networks. "SingTel customers are advised to be patient and to make calls only when necessary," the company said. It said internet traffic to the US is generally not affected, but users might have trouble accessing some websites in the stricken areas.

(Asia Times Online/Asia Pulse)