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U.S. bans five Saudi airline pilots
EFL:The United States has banned five Saudi Arabian pilots from flying into or otherwise entering the country, a Bush administration official said Wednesday. We heard about a few pilots being banned. Now it turns out theyâre Saudis, what a surprise! The pilots, who work for Saudi Arabian Airlines and regularly flew into the United States, were told in late August that they could no longer enter the United States. The administration official said he was not aware of any appeals. The official said a check of multiple databases over the summer turned up information that indicated an association between the pilots and known al Qaeda terrorists. Is there anybody in Saudi who isnât? The official said there is no information to indicate the five had been involved in plotting terrorist activity involving aircraft or any other mode of attack, the official said. "But we ainât taking no chances." Since September 11, 2001, the names of pilots, co-pilots and engineers from some foreign carriers have been checked against watch lists. Over the summer more intensive reviews involving more databases were performed and these five names "appeared, or appeared several times," the official said. Saudi pilots on a watch list, what are the odds? (1 to 1) Posted by: Steve 2003-09-12 |
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