Sun Online : Air of hysteria on terror

Air of hysteria on terror

By GUY PATRICK | August 21, 2006

A MUSLIM MP pleaded for calm last night after two Asian men were kicked off a jet because other passengers feared they were terrorists.

Khalid Mahmood said the mutiny on a 3am Malaga to Manchester flight was “hugely irrational”.

Mr Mahmood, MP for Birmingham’s Perry Barr, said: “People need to get their senses back into order.

“You can’t just treat anybody of Asian appearance like a terrorist. I understand there is a huge tension and anxiety but people just need to calm down.

“Hysteria doesn’t do anybody any good.”

The two men were ordered off a Monarch Airlines Airbus A320 by armed police after other passengers told cabin crew that they feared for their safety.

The duo wore leather jackets and jumpers despite the heat and repeatedly checked their watches.

A Spanish police spokesman said: “These men aroused suspicion because of their appearance and the fact that they were speaking in what was thought to be an Arabic language.

“The pilot refused to take off until they were escorted from the plane.”

The men were put up in a hotel and left on a later plane.

g.patrick@the-sun.co.uk