Doha: Qatar will discipline a diplomat
who sparked a security scare by smoking in the toilet of a US
passenger jet and joking he was trying to light his shoes, a
newspaper reported Wednesday.
The diplomat, who is set to leave the United States
shortly, would face "necessary and fair measures," the daily
Al-Watan quoted Qatar`s minister of state for foreign affairs,
Ahmad Abdullah al-Mahmud, as saying.
Mahmud said the official, Mohammed al-Modadi, would
be questioned by the ministry which "will not be lenient with
anyone at fault, or cover up for any careless people."
Modadi, the third secretary and vice consul of
Qatar`s Washington embassy, was released without charge after
the incident last week on a United Airlines flight from
Washington to Denver.
The 27-year-old had raised suspicion during the
flight after smoking a cigarette in an airplane bathroom and
then joking that he was trying to ignite his shoe.
His comments raised fears of a repeat of the 2001
"shoe bomber" incident in which British national Richard Reid
tried to blow up an airliner using explosives hidden in his
footwear.
An air marshal wrestled the diplomat to the floor,
the pilot declared an emergency, two F-16 fighters were
scrambled and intercepted the airliner, and top White House
officials briefed President Barack Obama.
PTI
