Washington, April 10 (DPA) The US welcomed Qatar’s decision to remove a diplomat who prompted a security scare aboard an airline flight after lighting up a cigarette in the plane’s toilet.
US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters Friday that Qatar decided to assign the diplomat to another post and that he is expected to leave US soil “shortly”.
Crowley said US officials closely consulted with their Qatari counterparts about how to handle the case.
“We expressed the seriousness with which we attach to this incident that violated federal regulations,” Crowley said. “And the Qataris informed us that they would reassign this individual, and we welcome that.”
The diplomat, identified as Mohammed al-Modadi, was subdued by federal marshals aboard the United Airlines flight from Washington to Denver, Colorado Wednesday night.
The agents suspected the 27-year-old man was smoking in the lavatory, and when confronted, he reportedly joked that he trying to light his shoes on fire. Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to guide the plane into its landing in Denver.
Al-Mohadi was taken to a hotel room and questioned. It was determined he did not pose a terrorist threat and he was later released. He will not be charged with a crime.
Initial worries of a shoe-bomb attack were reminiscent of an attempted terrorist act on a December 2001 flight from Britain to the US, when Briton Richard Reid tried to detonate explosive packed into his footwear.
Reid, who was recruited by Al Qaeda, was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to blow up an airliner.
Additional security was also added after a Christmas Day attempt by a passenger to blow up a US airliner bound for Detroit. The accused bomber spent an extended time in the lavatory before attempting to set off an explosive hidden in his underwear.
