Cigarette Diplomat was on his way to visit a jailed terrorist.

[msanthrope]

AP sources: Diplomat was to meet jailed terrorist

By MATTHEW LEE and P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee And P. Solomon Banda, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 3 mins ago
WASHINGTON – A Qatari diplomat was on his way to an official visit with an imprisoned al-Qaida sleeper agent when he touched off a bomb scare by slipping into an airline bathroom for a smoke, officials said Thursday as the diplomat prepared to leave the U.S.

The diplomat, Mohammed Al-Madadi was going to meet Ali Al-Marri in prison, according to a State Department official and another person close to the matter. Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, is serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to support terrorism.

Al-Marri was arrested after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, accused of being a sleeper agent researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack. Consular officials frequently visit foreigners held in the United States to make sure they are being treated well.

The purpose of his visit raises further questions about Al-Madadi's behavior, such as why someone familiar with terrorism cases would apparently flaunt airline security rules. Law enforcement officials said Al-Madadi later joked that he had been trying to light his shoe — an apparent reference to the 2001 so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid.

The people who discussed the case did so on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
SNIP
More at link---
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100408/ap_on_go_ot/us_plane_disturbance


Makes me wonder just what he was doing in that bathroom.

[secondwind]

1. I agree with you....I think there's more to this story.

[emulatorloo]

2. I don't think there is much more to it than this: Assholish jerk + Diplomatic Immunity = Asshole

[sequioa]

3. How should we feel?

So let see, no smoking posted everywhere on a plane, callous insensitivity to helpless passengers flying in an aluminum tube 30,000 feet above the earth.....

[d_r]

4. I agree with you 100%

asshole + diplomatic immunity