The Qatari diplomat whose smoking attempt in the bathroom of a United flight from D.C. to Denver involved air marshals, an ill-advised joke about lighting his shoes on fire, and F-16 fighter jets escorting the plane on its descent is expected to leave the country by today. Mohammed Al-Madadi, 27, who has diplomatic immunity, was not charged; State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, "This is a very serious issue. Any of us who travel on airlines are reminded of this when we take off. In our communications with the Qatari ambassador last night, he fully understood the seriousness of the charges."
And now it's revealed that Al-Madadi was on his way to Denver to visit a jailed Al-Qaeda agent (according to the AP, "Consular officials frequently visit foreigners held in the United States to make sure they are being treated well"). The Post reports, "The prisoner, Ali al-Marri, was arrested after the 9/11 attacks on charges of being a sleeper agent while studying at Bradley University in Illinois, and is serving eight years after pleading guilty to conspiring to support terrorism. Authorities said Marri was researching poisonous gases and plotting a cyber attack. Alison Bradley, a spokeswoman for the embassy, declined to answer why a database manager would be going on a consular visit to a terror suspect. She said his embassy title was third secretary."
Former TSA administrator Kip Hawley, who served in the Bush Administration between 2005 and 2008, told the NY Times, "From a counterterrorism standpoint, the system worked perfectly. The T.S.A. and counterterrorism officials are on high alert for a very good reason. Al Qaeda is going to use pregnant women, people with babies, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that they will use a diplomat."
