Rice vows to probe detention at airport

Rice vows to probe detention at airport

The case of a respected London Muslim leader, detained for hours at the Detroit airport last month, has been brought to the attention of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Dr. Munir El-Kassem, who was detained, interrogated and fingerprinted for hours in Detroit, met yesterday in Ottawa with Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

MacKay told El-Kassem - a local imam, university chaplain and UWO professor - that he brought the issue to Rice’s attention over the weekend.

“(MacKay) told me . . . he spoke with Secretary Rice and she was quite concerned and promised to do a thorough investigation,” El-Kassem said last night.

“Overreacting to security issues in this manner is not acceptable . . . and I hope they’ll recognize that and find other solutions.”

The Foreign Affairs Minister also instructed his own staff to follow up with a complete investigation into the series of events, El-Kassem said.

El-Kassem, a director at UWO’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, was interrogated for hours at the airport after telling an official he was Muslim.

During the questioning, officials probed El-Kassem on whether he knew Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and asked if he loved God or Allah.

When he finally returned home to London after missing a connecting flight, El-Kassem contacted his London-Fanshawe NDP MP, Irene Mathyssen.

Glen Pearson, Liberal MP for London-North-Centre, raised the issue in the House of Commons last week, and then facilitated the meeting with MacKay.

Pearson is now calling for all victims of what he terms “airport apartheid” to come forward through his office, a move El-Kassem hopes will build a strong case against the “trampling” of human rights in US airports.

“This isn’t something that just concerns the Muslim community,” El-Kassem said, citing dozens of letters and phone calls he’s received about similar issues from both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Source: London Free Press