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Booted Imams May Sue Passengers Who Reported Them

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 31, 2007

• Be a Traveler, Not a Target • Money Solutions for the Traveler • Travel News

Should air passengers report suspicious behavior by their fellow travelers?

Although airports, airlines, and security officers insist a vigilant public expands the umbrella of protection from terrorism, passengers who complain could also find themselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit.

That's exactly what's happening in Minneapolis, where six imams removed from a US Airways flight last November have not only sued the carrier and the airport but threatened to include the passengers who fingered them.

The clerics, returning from a religious conference on Nov. 20, were ordered off the plane by the pilot after allegedly praising Saddam Hussein, cursing the United States, and sitting in seats scattered throughout the cabin after huddling together during the boarding process.

According to filed complaints, the clerics also chanted in Arabic and requested seat-belt extenders with heavy metal buckles that might have been used as a weapon.

After their removal from the flight, the six imams were subjected to search by bomb-sniffing dogs and hours of questioning by law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.

The plane, also searched by security agents, eventually left without the clerics. Now the imams insist they were singled out because of passenger prejudice. They also deny doing anything wrong.

Because four airliners were used in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, passengers had been asked to keep their eyes and ears open in the hope of preventing future incidents. Congress is even considering a bill to shield air travelers who say something from potential lawsuits.

Although Minneapolis hardly seems to be on the front lines of the war on terror, the latest controversy is the second involving Muslims in less than a year.

In 2006, many of the area's Somali cab drivers suddenly refused to take passengers carrying alcohol in their luggage. Drinking or transporting alcohol is forbidden for religious Muslims.

In the latest incident, a police report filed at the airport lists complaints from one passenger and two U.S. Airways employees.

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