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'Diplomat detained' on US plane Diplomat freed after plane alert
(about 14 hours later)
A man has been detained after an incident on a flight from Washington's Reagan airport to Denver. A Qatari diplomat has been released from custody after an incident on a flight from Washington to Denver.
Two F-16 jets were scrambled to intercept the plane and escort it to land safely at Denver airport, the US Northern Command said. Two F-16 jets were earlier scrambled to intercept the United Airlines plane and escort it to land safely at Denver airport, US officials said.
There were initial reports that a Qatari diplomat had tried to set fire to his shoes. Initial reports said the man, identified as Mohammed al-Madadi, had tried to set fire to his shoes.
But officials later said no explosives were found and he had apparently been trying to smoke in a plane toilet.But officials later said no explosives were found and he had apparently been trying to smoke in a plane toilet.
When confronted, the man "made a joke about it", which further alarmed people on board the flight, said an unnamed official quoted by the Associated Press. Mr al-Madadi, the embassy's third secretary, was released by the US authorities after being questioned and was on his way back to Washington, according to a statement by Brown Lloyd James, a law firm representing the Qatari embassy.
The man has been identified as a Qatari diplomat stationed at the country's Washington embassy. Investigators were told that Mr al-Madadi was asked about the smell of smoke in the toilet and he made a joke that he had been trying to light his shoes - an apparent reference to the 2001 "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, AP news agency reported.
The plane, with more than 160 passengers and crew on board, arrived at Denver International Airport, where TV footage showed it surrounded by security vehicles. Reid, a British citizen, tried to blow up a transatlantic jet carrying 197 passengers with explosives hidden in his footwear.
The US Transportation Security Administration said the suspect was being interviewed by law enforcement officials. 'Mistake'
"TSA is monitoring an incident on board United Airlines flight 663 from [Washington to Denver] after receiving initial reports that a Federal Air Marshal responded to a passenger possibly causing a disturbance on board this aircraft," the agency said in a statement. The man detained in Denver was later identified as a Qatari diplomat stationed at the Washington embassy.
In a statement, Qatar's ambassador to the US, Ali Bin Fahad al-Hajri, said the diplomat "was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity", and "facts will reveal that this was all a mistake".
The plane, with more than 160 passengers and crew on board, arrived at Denver International Airport from Washington's Reagan airport.
The crew had asked for the flight to be met on the ground by police, officials said.
The US Transportation Security Administration said it responded to "an incident on board United Airlines flight 663 [from Washington to Denver] after Federal Air Marshals responded to a passenger causing a disturbance on board the aircraft".
"Law enforcement and TSA responded to the scene and the passenger is currently being interviewed by law enforcement."
The incident came just months after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to detonate a bomb on a passenger jet arriving in the US.The incident came just months after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to detonate a bomb on a passenger jet arriving in the US.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was overpowered by passengers and crew shortly before the Northwest Airlines plane landed in Detroit from Amsterdam on 24 December. He has been charged with attempting to destroy a plane.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was overpowered by passengers and crew shortly before the Northwest Airlines plane landed in Detroit from Amsterdam on 24 December. He has been charged with attempting to destroy a plane.
In 2001, Richard Reid, a British citizen, attempted to blow up a transatlantic passenger jet carrying 197 people with explosives hidden in his shoes.
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