COULD IT BE THAT EXPERT BOMB MAKER Ibrahim al-Asiri is trying to use an electronic device to take down a jet?Ibrahim al-Asiri has a long track record of bombing including trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jet using explosives in underwear. Remember that? The underwear bomber was thankfully caught but these people are constantly trying to discover new ways to terrorize people.Advanced bomb-making techniques, such as those taught by Mr Asiri, have alarmed security services in the past. In July 2014, the US requested enhanced security checks on all direct flights to the US, in response to a  credible threat . Security experts say that the warning was triggered by a fear that some of al-Qaeda s sophisticated bomb-making expertise, such as that pioneered by Mr Asiri, had proliferated out of Yemen to Syria.For more information on al-Asiri: Profile: Al-Qaeda  bomb maker  Ibrahim al-AsiriThe US has announced a ban on electronic devices from cabin baggage on flights from eight mainly Middle Eastern and North African countries.The measure will affect nine airlines operating out of 10 airports.Large electronic devices will only be allowed on board in checked baggage. Phones are exempt from the new rules.US officials said the airlines had been given 96 hours, beginning at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday, to ban devices bigger than a mobile phone or smartphone from cabins. They said the ban had no end date.The airports affected are:Queen Alia International, Amman, Jordan Cairo International Airport, Egypt Ataturk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey King Abdulaziz International, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia King Khalid International, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Kuwait International Airport Mohammed V International, Casablanca, Morocco Hamad International, Doha, Qatar Dubai International, United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi International, United Arab EmiratesThe nine airlines are:Royal Jordanian Egypt Air Turkish Airlines Saudi Arabian Airlines Kuwait Airways Royal Air Maroc Qatar Airways Emirates Etihad AirwaysHomeland Security Secretary John Kelly called members of Congress over the weekend to explain the security issues behind the ban, congressional aides said.The restrictions had been under consideration for several weeks, US media said.In February 2016 an aircraft operated by the Dubai-based carrier Daallo was damaged by an explosion shortly after take-off from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.Investigators said a passenger who was sucked out of the plane had been carrying a laptop bomb. The pilot managed to land and the alleged bomber was the only fatality. Had the device gone off at cruising altitude, the plane would almost certainly have been destroyed.The Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, claimed that it was responsible. The possibility of further such attacks is apparently what is now concerning American spies .Read more: BBC