A Qatari diplomat, who sparked a bomb scare on a Denver-bound flight when he tried to apparently light up a cigarette, will be released without charges and in all probability leave the United States, authorities said on Friday.
Mohammed al-Madadi was en route to Colorado on an official visit which included meeting Ali Marri, a Qatari citizen serving prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to conspiracy in connection with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Qatari embassy said in a statement.
Senior administration officials said Madadi apparently tried to smoke a cigarette on the United Airlines Flight 663, traveling from Washington to Denver, with more than 160 passengers and crew aboard. When confronted, he allegedly made a sarcastic comment about lighting his shoes. This created a major security scare as his comment was taken as a reference to two other suspected bomb plots.
In 2001, Richard Reid was caught with explosives in his shoes, and last Christmas, a Nigerian Muslim attempted to ignite a bomb hidden in his underwear. Madadi was immediately overpowered by the sky marshals, and detained on arrival at the Denver airport.
"When the aircraft landed in Denver, authorities questioned all passengers to determine what had happened, including the Qatari diplomat. He was brought to a hotel in Denver, where we were able to determine what had happened. Once we determined that this was not an ongoing threat; this morning he was linked up with a team from the Qatari embassy that had travelled to Denver," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said.
"We have options available to us, the Qatari government has options available to it, and we expect it to be resolved very quickly," Crowley added. Noting that this is a very serious issue, he said, "Any of us who travel on airlines are reminded of that every time we take off. The Qatari ambassador fully understood the seriousness of the charges. I think we are satisfied with the seriousness by which they take what has occurred, and that's why we have confidence that this will be resolved very quickly."
Meanwhile, in a statement posted on the Qatar embassy's website, Qatari Ambassador to the US Ali Bin Fahad al-Hajri said the diplomat didn't do anything threatening.
"He certainly wasn't involved in any threatening activity. This was a mistake, and we urge all concerned parties to avoid reckless judgments or speculation," the statement said.
