Venezuelan Foreign Minister detained at JFK

[Naim 6]

Talk about secondary screening!

 

" ...Maduro said U.S. authorities claimed a code on his airplane ticket identified him as 'almost a terrorist' ..."

 

A ticket code for 'almost a terrorist'? Is there such a thing?

 

+++

 

http://www.foxnews.com/

U.S. Officials Detain Venezuelan Foreign Minister at New York Airport

 

Saturday , September 23, 2006

 

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's foreign minister was detained by U.S. authorities at a New York airport for more than hour Saturday as he tried to return to the South American country, President Hugo Chavez said.

 

U.S. and U.N. officials called the incident regrettable but said Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro had been identified for "secondary screening," a security check that can kick in when a passenger arrives without a ticket.

 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told Venezuela's state TV broadcaster that U.S. officials alleged that Maduro had links to a failed coup that Chavez led in Venezuela in 1992.

 

"They have held him accusing him of participating in terrorist acts here," Chavez said in Venezuela. "He didn't even participate in that patriotic rebellion," he said referring to the uprising he led while still an army officer.

 

Both Venezuelan politicians were in New York the past week attending the yearly U.N. General Assembly, where Chavez attracted attention with a speech calling President Bush "the devil." He later criticized the U.S. leader during a stop in Harlem before returning home.

 

"The airline identified him for secondary screening," Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said in Washington.

 

Airlines check passengers names against watch lists and apply certain criteria — such as paying for a ticket with cash — to direct passengers to a more intensive, or "secondary," screening process.

 

"From secondary screening the department was able to confirm his identity as the foreign minister for Venezuela," Knocke said.

 

A U.N. diplomat, who spoke condition of anonymity because not authorized to speak publicly, said that Maduro's passage was delayed because he had showed up late without a ticket, prompting the screening process.

 

"We can confirm that a regrettable incident occurred at John F. Kennedy airport for which the U.S. government has apologized to Foreign Minister Maduro and the government of Venezuela," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. He did not elaborate.

 

Maduro told CNN en Espanol shortly after being released that he was confined to a small room and told to remove his clothes.

 

When he explained that he was the Venezuelan foreign minister and showed his diplomatic passport, he says he was threatened, pushed and yelled at by immigration and police officials.

 

"They were violating diplomatic conventions," he said.

 

In remarks carried by Venezuelan TV stations, Maduro said U.S. authorities claimed a code on his airplane ticket identified him as "almost a terrorist" and that two police officers had threatened to hit and handcuff him.

 

Maduro abandoned his plans to board his flight and returned to New York city.

[Nasser 0]

If you cannot get the head, you catch the tail ....

[Fitri Shukri 0]

Wait till some country temporarily detain Condoleeza Rice at their airport for the same reason 'almost a terrorist' and we'll see what will happen!