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Arab-American Secret Service Agent Barred from Flight, Bush Angered
CRAWFORD, Texas, Dec. 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Secret Service said Thursday it has launched an inquiry into why one of its agents - an Arab-American on his way to Texas to protect President George W. Bush - was barred from an American Airlines flight, news agencies reported.
"We are conducting an inquiry," Secret Service spokesman Brian Marr said Thursday. He added that the agency charged with the U.S. President's safety had contacted the airline for its version of the incident, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The president said Friday he will be "madder than heck" if it turns out an Arab-American agent charged with his safety was removed from a U.S. airliner because of his ethnicity.
"There's an inquiry going on as to specifically what took place. But if he was treated that way, because of his ethnicity, that will make me madder than heck," Bush told reporters outside his ranch here.
The president said he had spoken to the Arab-American U.S. Secret Service agent earlier in the day, telling him "how proud I was that he was by my side. He's here on the ranch, and he's guarding me."
Spokesman Marr said, "A pilot from American Airlines prohibited an agent of the Secret Service from traveling" from Baltimore to Dallas late Tuesday on his way to Crawford, where Bush is vacationing on his ranch.
Marr declined to identify the agent, but confirmed that he was armed, adding that carrying a gun is "common practice" for agents traveling on protective or investigative assignments.
Earlier, the New York Times reported that, once seated, the agent was confronted by airline security personnel and asked to exit the plane and submit to additional security checks.
The daily said the agent was questioned for 75 minutes by the flight's pilot, airline officials and airport police and barred from the flight even though he offered to have the Secret Service confirm his identify.
CNN International reported Wednesday that an American Airline pilot did not allow an armed Secret Service agent of Arab descent to board a flight to Texas, where the agent was to join the security detail at President Bush's ranch, citing U.S. and airline officials Wednesday.
According to the airline spokesman, the pilot was troubled by "inconsistencies" in the paperwork required for the agent to carry a weapon on the aircraft.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, demanded American Airlines apologize for the incident.
"All Americans are concerned about improving safety for the traveling public, but religious and ethnic profiling is not the way to make flying more secure," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper was quoted by AFP on Thursday.
CAIR said the agent asked the airline to call the Secret Service to verify his identity. Even when local transit police vouched for the agent, the pilot refused to let him board the plane, the council said.
The agent eventually was sent to another American Airlines flight, but was banned from boarding the aircraft because he had been reported for "suspicious activity," according to the Council.
The agent ultimately took yet another flight to Texas, where he is now part of the Secret Service detail at the president's 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford.
Secret Service agents who fly aboard commercial jets must disclose their identity and any weapons they intend to carry on board, according to current protocol.
It is not unusual for authorities to question agents about their weapons, officials said, but these matters are typically resolved without incident.
An American Airlines spokesman said the company stands behind its pilot, saying he took appropriate action to protect his aircraft, passengers and crew, CNN reported Thursday.
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regulations allow a pilot to remove anyone from a flight if the pilot believes the person poses a security risk.
The FAA has cautioned officials not to overuse this authority, following a rash of alleged racial profiling incidents following the deadly September 11 attacks.
However, the Department of Transportation has reported about 20 complaints concerning passengers being removed from flights because of their ethnicity.
The FAA directive told authorities "not to target or otherwise discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, or based on passengers' names or modes of dress that could be indicative of such classification."
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