I thought I had heard it all. Now a diplomat from Qatar, who locked himself in a restroom on an airplane, while 20 minutes away from landing, is free to travel. When flight attendants smelled smoke, they knocked on the door of the restroom in first class, you know close to the cockpit! Later, after every passenger had to be question by FBI, for about 5 hours, this 'dip...lomat' goes free, to fly the friendly skies again, after telling FBI, "I was just joking."
wow this is extremely sad =/. Whether a diplomat or not, this guy needs to have some charges laid on him... Risk everyones lives because he needs to have sometime to joke around on a plane... =/. Yea im guessing something went wrong in what he was trying to pull off
Here's what the Qatari ambassador to the US had to say, "We respect the necessity of special security precautions involving air travel, but this diplomat was traveling to Denver on official business on my instructions," the ambassador said in the statement, adding, "he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity."
.
See, no problem. Just a little misunderstanding, please don't bomb us?
Never make jokes or references to terrorism, explosives and death, while on airplanes or airports. This man learned his lesson. At least he's free to go.
I love how if this was a white guy the FBI would have been like ''hes just chilling having a ciggarrette'', since hes brown they immediately assume hes a terrorist. I mean hes a diplomat for christs sake.
Oh and I nearly forgot, never smoke on airplanes. He lit one up, was caught due to the smell of smoke and when questioned made a joke about trying to light up his shoes. Who does that?
Er Woody, smoking on airplanes is prohibited under federal law. Also, the smell of smoke was obvious, and when he was asked about it, reportedly he made a joke about lighting up his shoes.
since hes brown they immediately assume hes a terrorist
Er Woody, smoking on airplanes is prohibited under federal law.
So are lots of other things. It doesnt mean you should be treated like a terrorist suspect. People from the US so often complain about why people hate them. Its mainly because everyone who works at their airports are racist twats.
Cough, well from what I know they always do that to people who make jokes related to bombs, while on airplanes. And while I do know that many of them are prejudiced against Muslims, they are also paranoid about bomb threats and jokes.
Please read some of the article before judging all Americans. I read that you consider workers at US airports to be racist but there's a few of that type all over the globe.
"Alison Bradley, a spokeswoman for the Brown Lloyd James public relations firm, told CNN that al-Madadi has "been given clearance to travel back to Washington," and a federal law enforcement official told CNN he will not face charges.
Bradley, whose firm represents the Qatari government, said al-Madadi was on official business and planned to meet with college students from the emirate while in Colorado. In addition, he had arranged a consular visit with Ali al-Marri, a Qatari citizen who is serving an eight-year prison term for conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization." (above supplied from CNN)
Er Woody, smoking on airplanes is prohibited under federal law. Also, the smell of smoke was obvious, and when he was asked about it, reportedly he made a joke about lighting up his shoes
I agree, not something even American comedians would actually do on a plane...not funny!
So are lots of other things. It doesnt mean you should be treated like a terrorist suspect. People from the US so often complain about why people hate them. Its mainly because everyone who works at their airports are racist twats.
Perhaps they should get a sense of humour instead of treating everyone like Osama Bin Laden.
Americans' still have a sense of humor, but I think the officials did the right thing to at least check the person out, verifying he was would he claimed to be,etc. No one wants to see another plane go down like like December.
I'm a witty sort who has a sense of humor but I find no humor in 'joking about setting a shoe, or for that matter, lighting a match' on board any plane, since 9-11-01.
I read that you consider workers at US airports to be racist but there's a few of that type all over the globe.
Ive been hassled in US airports despite having served in Afghanistan alongside them, and that being on my file. They are annoyingly suspicious of everyone. The fact im black probably doesnt help either though.
I agree, not something even American comedians would actually do on a plane...not funny!
Not saying its a bright idea, but the typical US response is disproportionately harsh in most cases and only serves to annoy people who just want to get to their next destination without sufferring a full cavity search.
Perhaps they should get a sense of humour instead of treating everyone like Osama Bin Laden.
well no offense but jokes about bombs kinda aren't even close to humurous. Its like telling a jewish joke around jews. Not funny. And not to mention that this type of behavior, helps the stereotypical claims against muslums... And to be even ore honest, the majority of the terrorists attacking the planes are muslum. So why shouldnt they be at least kinda scared when they see one walking on bored... Its the own people causing this stereotype... If white men started bombing planes, im pretty sure we'd be constantly getting checked too.
Ive been hassled in US airports despite having served in Afghanistan alongside them, and that being on my file. They are annoyingly suspicious of everyone. The fact im black probably doesnt help either though.
Thank you for your service in Afghanistan!
Have you voiced your concerns with your congressman or senator?
I would hope the only people getting detained and getting the * CBC search would either be on the 'no-fly' or FBI's most wanted lists.
I haven't flown since '05, and that was a domestic flight to LAX. The issue back then was everyone having to remove their shoes. I thought it was funny since a lot of us were wearing flip-flops, open-strappy sandals,etc.
Have you voiced your concerns with your congressman or senator?
Im actually british, although the last time i was in texas, i saw my file come up on screen with part of my RAF file with my service record, and i still got tons of hassle. It really annoyed me.
