Arch Bevis, a former Opposition defence spokesman, said the danger was highlighted by the overnight arrest of a man in the US who had offered a Russian-made missile to people he believed were terrorists.

Mr Bevis said it was negligent of the government not to take action on installation of missile counter measures.

He said there were regular warnings of the danger of weapons of mass destruction but missile attack on an airliner had already occurred.

In November, al-Qaida terrorists unsuccessfully fired two missiles at an Israeli aircraft in East Africa.

"We know it has been used in the past and we know that it will be used in the future," Mr Bevis told reporters.

"It seems to me a major flaw in Australia's approach to these things that we are not requiring at least Qantas aircraft going to high risk locations to have appropriate countermeasures installed.

"There is a cost to that but there is a bigger cost in not doing it. The sooner we act on that, the better it will be for the public travelling on Australian aircraft."

Mr Bevis said other important civil aircraft such as Air Force One, used to transport the President of the United States, had countermeasures installed.

He said terrorists were going to be looking for new opportunities as their past activities become more difficult to pursue.

"Shoulder-mounted missiles can be used not only from the airport but from suburbs around the airport and a slow moving large commercial aircraft like a jumbo jet is easy pickings," he said.

"That is a threat that exists today. For us not to be taking action, as a parliament or for the government not to be taking action or indeed for Qantas itself not to be taking action, I think is negligence."

Three arrested over plot to smuggle missile into US

WASHINGTON, AP

FEDERAL authorities said they arrested three people, including a British national, and foiled an international plot to smuggle into the United States a shoulder-fired missile that could shoot down a commercial airliner.

The British man was arrested in Newark, New Jersey, yesterday after agreeing to sell a sophisticated Russian SA-18 Igla missile to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Muslim extremist, according to a federal law enforcement official.

Two other men, believed to be involved in money laundering, were apprehended about the same time at a gem dealership in central Manhattan, the second official said.

The arrests were the result of a cooperative investigation involving US, British and Russian authorities. More arrests were possible, authorities said.

The investigation began about five months ago when the Russians passed on to the FBI a tip received in St. Petersburg, Russia, about the arms dealer, said one law enforcement official. British officials, including the MI5 domestic intelligence agency, helped track the man's whereabouts.

The understanding between the Briton and the undercover FBI agent who agreed to purchase the weapon was that the missile needed to be capable of bringing down a commercial airliner, the first official said.

The missile, which was inoperable, was built in Russia specifically for the sting operation and brought to the United States aboard a ship to make the deal seem real, officials said.

The BBC reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized for the FBI to have an undercover agent sent to Russia to work on the case.

The BBC said the suspected arms dealer flew to New York on Sunday on a British Airways flight from London, but he was followed onto the plane and kept under surveillance until his arrest.