Jet-scare diplomat to head home
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
The US plans to close the book on the bomb scare aboard a Denver-bound plane after receiving assurances from Qatar that the diplomat who touched off the panic will be sent home, officials said.
The diplomat, Mohammed al-Madadi, was flying from Washington to meet imprisoned al-Qaida sleeper agent Ali al-Marri for a routine consular visit, a State Department official and another person close to the matter said on Thursday. Al-Madadi slipped into the plane's bathroom for a smoke, authorities said, then joked about trying to set his shoe on fire -- an apparent reference to would-be "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who was convicted for his 2001 attempt to down an airliner.
That sparked a big response by security officials still smarting from a near-disastrous Christmas Day airline bombing in Detroit. The military scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday night, and the FBI questioned al-Madadi for hours.
No explosives were found on the plane, and authorities said they don't think al-Madadi was trying to hurt anyone during Wednesday's scare. He enjoys diplomatic immunity from US prosecution and will not be criminally charged, authorities said.
The State Department official said Qatar had not yet informed the administration how it will handle the case but has assured the US that al-Madadi will leave the country. "We fully expect this will be resolved very quickly," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters.
The diplomat, Mohammed al-Madadi, was flying from Washington to meet imprisoned al-Qaida sleeper agent Ali al-Marri for a routine consular visit, a State Department official and another person close to the matter said on Thursday. Al-Madadi slipped into the plane's bathroom for a smoke, authorities said, then joked about trying to set his shoe on fire -- an apparent reference to would-be "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who was convicted for his 2001 attempt to down an airliner.
That sparked a big response by security officials still smarting from a near-disastrous Christmas Day airline bombing in Detroit. The military scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday night, and the FBI questioned al-Madadi for hours.
No explosives were found on the plane, and authorities said they don't think al-Madadi was trying to hurt anyone during Wednesday's scare. He enjoys diplomatic immunity from US prosecution and will not be criminally charged, authorities said.
The State Department official said Qatar had not yet informed the administration how it will handle the case but has assured the US that al-Madadi will leave the country. "We fully expect this will be resolved very quickly," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters.
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