Qatari Diplomat Headed Back to DC (Updated)
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Qatari diplomat caught smoking on a United Airlines DC-to-Denver flight — and then joked he was lighting a shoe bomb — will have to find another way back to Washington, D.C. United Airlines has banned him from its flights:
“A Qatari diplomat who created a bomb scare mid-flight earlier this week tried boarding the same airline for his return flight to Washington. United Airlines said, “No.”
United spokesman Mike Trevino says they banned Mohammed Al-Madadi (Al-Mah-DAH-dee) from a United flight Thursday because he violated airline and Federal Aviation Administration policies when he tried smoking on a flight from Washington to Denver Wednesday.”
Unless another airline lets him board, the government of Qatar may have to pay for a private flight to D.C. Reports indicate he will soon be headed home to Qatar.
— DRJ
UPDATE: The reports were correct. The Qatari diplomat left the United States Friday night.
Did the media or the embassy ever say whether he went through with his consular visit to the convicted Qatari terrorist al Marri while he was in Denver?
Qatar airways a 5 star full service airline has daily non-stop flights to Qatar From DC. Take that flight twice to three times a year myself.
Unless Al Baker banned him as well – which given the ever increasingly complex tribal interactions among the handful of Qatari’s in the world – is not that surprising
EricPWJohnson (67b207) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:21 pmThat’s no way to treat the fourth son of the Sultan’s seventeenth concubine.
Ok, I made that up.
Time somebody stood up to the camel molesting sand monkeys.
Yes, I detest Arabs.
nk (db4a41) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:23 pmEric,
I figured he would be allowed on a Qatari flight but I’m talking about a flight from Denver to DC. I doubt Qatar Air flies into and out of Denver. I used to fly into Denver regularly but maybe it has more foreign airlines now.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:26 pmI’ll be. Qatar Airways does serve Denver, although it’s search engine is down right now so I can’t tell if it offers connecting service or serves Denver directly.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:30 pmApparently he will be going home. From the Washington Post:
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:33 pmWe’ve gone to bed with the devil because we want cheap gas.
nk (db4a41) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:36 pmSome people do not pay when they lose a bet. That is all.
JD (3f3e6c) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:36 pm“I’ll be. Qatar Airways does serve Denver, although it’s search engine is down right now so I can’t tell if it offers connecting service or serves Denver directly.”
Might be a code share.
[note: fished from spam filter. –Stashiu]
imdw (3ddf03) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:37 pmOil is fungible. I don’t think it’s cheaper there than anywhere else is it? The only cheap oil I know of is our oil that we can’t pump. Only the Cubans, Chinese, and Russians are allowed to pump our oil, and then sell it to us for top dollar. But it makes lots of high paying jobs, just not for Americans.
Machinist (9780ec) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:48 pmWell I’ll be! So us’ens in this cow state have an airport that has flights from foreign airlines. Poor Frontier.
LYNNDH (8d8b19) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:52 pmAs imdw suggested, Qatar Airways only serves Denver via its codeshare partners, which in Denver would be United and US Airways. That’s probably why he was on a United flight in the first place. Ironically, being banned from United flights may end up being a bigger problem for this young man than getting ejected from the United States.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:57 pmIt’s starting to sound like this moron (probably Oxford or Harvard educated) has embarrassed whichever relative stuck the silver spoon in his mouth enough that he will have a new job when he gets home.
Probably something involving camels and a shovel.
MaaddMaaxx (b91eb0) — 4/9/2010 @ 9:28 pmDoesn’t Amtrak run from Denver to DC?
calandman (1f2308) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:21 pmI admire United’s guts.
If I were a lawyer, I’d defend them for free in the inevitable lawsuit.
Patricia (fa8e06) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:33 pmDRJ
No you had it right the first time, Qatar airways Code shares to all cities but DC and New York
I’m waiting for them to fly into the interior but relations with Qatar have taken a serious turn for the worst recently – something I’ve been sending you guys info on – this incident may be pure happenstance but in the Arab world there is no such thing
EricPWJohnson (67b207) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:38 pmComment by calandman — 4/9/2010 @ 10:21 pm
That was my first reaction also. But, on further reflection, Amtrak is too good for him….Greyhound would be better, plus he’ll possibly gain an appreciation for the expanse that is the United States…and just think of the stories he could tell his kids (if he lives that long).
AD - RtR/OS! (4a3dc0) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:45 pmGreyhound local, where it stops at every little town……
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 4/9/2010 @ 11:59 pmpersonally, i’d like to see him get a free ride back in the first AMC trash hauler available, and, when they get in range of his embassy, just drop the ramp and toss him out, so he can track right on into the embassy, without having to wait for a ride at the airport.
free airfare and his HANO wings in one trip: such a bargain!
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 4/10/2010 @ 12:02 amWait. Wait! Doesn’t he have “diplomatic immunity”?
You mean he can get away with murder, he just can’t get away with smoking on an airline flight….?
ROTFLMAO.
😀
IgotBupkis (79d71d) — 4/10/2010 @ 12:08 amAnd yes, I know it’s not that simple.
> Doesn’t Amtrak run from Denver to DC?
Not only that, I hear they’re talking about adding a route from DC to Qatar…
😛
IgotBupkis (79d71d) — 4/10/2010 @ 12:13 amI’m telling you, it’s an overreaction.
When he said he was going to “smoke a camel”, he was referring to his dinner plans!
Or was it his dating plans? I’m confused.
Icy Texan (665e90) — 4/10/2010 @ 4:24 amFor a large fee I’ll drive the idiot from Denver to DC. He just has to ride in the trunk and his luggage can ride in the back seat.
PCD (f19174) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:09 amOh, I forgot I have a T-bird with loud pipes and Cherry Bomb “muffler”.
PCD (f19174) — 4/10/2010 @ 6:10 amGo Greyhound. We’ve come to a pretty place in the world where we have to ask the question, “How does this sumbitch get from Denver to DC” without flying United. He could probably take a Frontier flight out of Denver to somewhere–preferrably strapped to the wing–but then that’s just my preference.
Mike Myers (3c9845) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:22 amHave there been any hand-wringing statements issued by CAIR? Like about the chilling effect this will have on Big Tobacco?
GeneralMalaise (268cf5) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:36 amThere needs to be a serious re – examination of diplomatic immunity in this country; even New Yorkers are fed up with the rampant abuses inherent with this privilege. Rudy had the right idea when he kicked that terrorist scumbag Arafat out of an opera performance. You want to sit at the UN and lob crap at your host country, fine (but not fine with me) – but to take unlawful advantages of the freedoms allowed here is quite a different matter. That guy has no idea how lucky he was that air marshals were on the flight – if the passengers had been left to their own devices, he might have had his head bashed in.
Dmac (21311c) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:37 amOff topic, but my thoughts and prayers are with the Polish people who have suffered a great loss. Poland is a friend of America.
GeneralMalaise (268cf5) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:41 amLet the little bastard walk.
FatBaldnSassy (737e1b) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:49 amWhen I was still in uniform I ran a school for the Army that had a number of foreign students attend. At one point we had a Major from a middle-eastern country in the course who was caught doing some disgusting and illegal things in the PX.
His answer? “You won’t do anything to me. I am a member of the house of ______.”
Actually, two days later a long black limousine with diplomatic plates showed up, a distinguished middle-eastern gentleman in a suit apologized to us on his country’s behalf, and the major left in disgrace.
Most of the students we saw in that course tended to come back for later advanced training. To my knowledge the major never did.
Virtual Insanity (d93c26) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:54 amI think that we need to have something like reciprocity analysis. So…if an American were acting in a fashion contrary to Qatari dictates on a Qatari jetliner…what would happen?
Of course, I feel that way about most foreign policy issues. Since we are supposedly so terrible on the world stage on all. I say we just react as the other nation would.
Like in immigration reform.
Eric Blair (c8876d) — 4/10/2010 @ 9:18 amPoland is a friend of America.
A friend who’s been basically spat on by the current administration – and gee, wonder if this “accident” didn’t have some kind of help from Putin, if you catch my drift. Anyone who begs to differ can review what happened to the KGB defector who was poisoned to death in London, and the past Ukranian president who almost met the same fate. But don’t worry, Obama’s going to whisper sweet nothings in their ears and all will be well, no doubt.
Dmac (21311c) — 4/10/2010 @ 10:37 amnk says:
A bit sweeping there, nk.
I have my doubts about whether this particular fellow, on his way to visit an incarcerated al Qaeda terrorist, wasn’t involved in a dry run or probe of some sort. It seems everyone is quick to assume that he was just a smoker, end of story.
But to go from that to a general hatred of all Arabs is just prejudice. You’re better than that.
Patterico (c218bd) — 4/10/2010 @ 11:49 amNK
There are good Qatari and bad Qatari.
A while back a handfull of the dreaded Saudi religous police fought to a man to buy time for some european families to escape a vicious Al Qaeda attack – ones that occur almost weekly that rarely make the news
they left behind their children and wives – there is no retirement program for them, no insurance.
Alot of those arabs are also christians and jews something thats also never ever talked about including the Palestinians
EricPWJohnson` (e88db7) — 4/10/2010 @ 11:57 amI’ve updated the post.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/10/2010 @ 4:08 pmMaybe his next diplomatic posting will be in North Korea
Doug (f45db8) — 4/10/2010 @ 4:13 pmAl-Madadi did not complete his consular visit. He returned to DC as soon as he could get a flight. Then he went back to Qatar.
As one who has worked under diplomatic immunity in the Middle East, I’m damn glad I had it, particularly in the police states. I’m not generally considered a law-breaker, but it’s easy enough to run afoul of local laws, particularly around areas the local gov’t considers ‘sensitive’.
You might be surprised, too, about the instructions US diplomats are given in certain countries where a minor accident can raise a killer mob in seconds. The rule is, get the hell out of where you are. Forget about the police. Report it to the Embassy and you’ll likely be on a flight out that night, for your own safety.
And then there are US Embassies in countries like the UK that tell their employees that if they screw up, they’re responsible for the fines. If it potentially means jail, then that can be avoided at the cost of your career.
John Burgess (921036) — 4/10/2010 @ 5:29 pm