UK Muslim minister in US airport ordeal
London, 2007 Oct 29, IQNA
Britain's first and only Muslim minister was the latest victim of what some call "flying while Muslim" at US airports, after he was singled out, detained and searched for explosives by airport security officials, the BBC reported on Monday, October 29.
"I really do believe that British ministers and parliamentarians should be afforded the same respect and dignity at USA airports that we would bestow upon our colleagues in the Senate and Congress," said Shahid Malik, Britain's international development minister.
MP Malik was on his way back to London after talks with US officials on tackling terrorism when he was pulled aside at the Dulles Airport in Washington on Sunday, October 25.
After being singled out by the officers of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he was detained for about 40 minutes.
While being questioned, the British minister's hand luggage was tested for traces of explosives.
Ironically, Malik was searched and detained by officials from the DHS, the same department whose representatives he had been meeting hours earlier.
It's not the first time for Malik, the first Muslim minister in British history, to receive such treatment at US airports.
Last November, he was detained for an hour at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The 39-year-old MP for Dewsbury was flying in to deliver a keynote speech on tackling terrorism at an event co-organized by the DHS alongside the FBI and Muslim organizations in New York.
"All Muslims"
As he stood aside waiting questioning, MP Malik saw other people singled out.
"After a few minutes a couple of other people were also taken to one side," he recalled.
"We were all Muslims. The other two were black Muslims, both with Muslim names."
Now, as the he endured the same "abusive attitude" at US airports for the second time, the British Muslim minister is deeply disappointed.
"There was no malice involved but it has to be said that the US system does not inspire confidence."
US rights groups complain that racial profiling has been on the upswing since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, more than 500 people per day were denied entry to the US in 2006 because of their Muslim or Arab identity.
Mohamed Majed Shehadeh, a 62-year-old German Muslim of Syrian descent, had his share of the US airport ordeal last December with four horrific days in jail.
Last August, Javaid Iqbal, 7, was stopped in three different airports during a US holiday with his family on suspicion of being a terrorist because his name was the same as a terror suspect.
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