Muhammed al-Madadi, the Qatar diplomat who created a scene on United Flight 663 yesterday was flying to Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado to visit jailed al Qaeda member, Ali al-Marri (full name Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri), who was apprehended shortly after 9/11 and is believed to have been an al Qaeda sleeper agent. The reports of a "misunderstanding" are ridiculous. Ali al-Marri decided to present himself in one way, rather than admitting that he was unlawfully smoking - and then he had to be restrained. There was no misunderstanding. The air marshalls got it. The guy was an arrogant agitator - and maybe worse.
Along the way, high in the skies, Madadi decided to take a smoke in the airliner's lavatory. In fact, he took a very long smoke - about 40 minutes, according to flight attendents, who notified an air marshall of smoke coming from the toilet. When al-Madadi emerged, air marshalls wer waiting. Al-Madadi told the sky marshall he was simply trying to light his shoes on fire. The captain was notified and two jets were scrambled. At some point, al-Madadi had to be physically constrained.
ABCNews is reporting that the 27-year-old Madadi will likely lose his job:
The diplomat is on his way back to Washington today and is expected to be sent out of the country soon as both sides are looking for a way to bring the matter to a close without further embarrassment...Katherine Herridge, FOXNews' Homeland Security correspondent, said al-Madadi will not face charges, due to his diplomatic immunity, and no one is talking about Qatar paying the cost of the incident - like two military jets escorting Flight 663 to the ground in Denver, which is estimated to cost taxpayers about $7,500 per hour.
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was studying computer science at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois with his wife and 5 children. Don't you wonder what happens with these kids? There seems to be at least 5 to every terrorist. Are they still in the U.S.? Are they attending a violent mosque somewhere? Honestly, the blowback from these people is incalculable.
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