BERNAMA.com - Malaysian National News Agency: Washington - "QATARI DIPLOMAT ARRESTED AFTER 'MID-AIR' BOMB THREAT" (SNIPPET: "The diplomat, identified as Mohammed Yaaqob Y M Al Madadi, was caught smoking in the toilets of a plane, and when questioned allegedly made a joke that he had been trying to "light" his shoes, according to Press Trust of India (PTI).") (April 8, 2010)
blogs:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/nightlinedailyline/2010/04/bathroom-smoke-scare-on-way-to-supermax.html
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35560.html
“Diplomat was visiting Al Qaeda inmate
TAGS: Terrorism, Colorado, Qatar”
By KASIE HUNT | 4/8/10 5:15 PM EDT
SNIPPET: “A Qatari diplomat was going to visit a convicted member of Al Qaeda when his suspicious behavior led the U.S. to scramble F-16s, sources said Thursday.
Mohamed Al-Madadi, the third-ranking diplomat in the Qatari Embassy, was on his way to visit Ali Al-Marri in the Florence, Colo., Supermax prison. Al-Marri, a Qatari citizen, is serving an eight-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
Al-Madadi was scheduled to meet with Al-Marri at 11 a.m. Thursday, said Alison Bradley, a spokeswoman for the Qatari Embassy.
Al-Madadi was apprehended by two U.S. air marshals after he spent a suspiciously long time in the airplane bathroom and possibly joked about igniting a bomb in his shoes, congressional sources said. The government scrambled F-16 fighter jets and escorted the plane to the Denver airport.
Al-Madadi will not face charges and will leave the country later this week, congressional sources said. As a top diplomat, Al-Madadi has diplomatic immunity.”