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2 U.S. Senators Held at Airport
A U.S. Senate delegation led by Senator Richard Lugar was detained for three hours at the Perm airport on Sunday as it tried to leave the country after visiting nuclear weapons-related facilities, the U.S. Embassy said. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said the delay was "for customs reasons." The Chicago Tribune, which had a reporter traveling with the delegation, reported that Perm border guards had demanded to inspect the group's military DC-9 jet and that U.S. officials refused, citing a joint U.S.-Russian agreement exempted military planes from inspection."We don't search Russian airplanes in the U.S. You will not search U.S. planes in Russia," said Ken Myers, a senior Senate staff member in the delegation, the Tribune reported. Russian officials asked for proof that the jet was a military plane, the newspaper said. The plane has large logos reading "United States of America" on the sides of the fuselage. Posted by: Ebbeque Glavish3183 2005-08-29 |
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