Telegraph : Jet scare over Asian men 'helps terrorists'

Jet scare over Asian men 'helps terrorists'

By Sally Pook | (Filed: 21/08/2006)

An airline yesterday stood by its decision to remove two Asian men from a holiday jet bound for Britain despite criticism from a Muslim group.

The two passengers were asked to leave Monarch flight ZB613 from Malaga to Manchester, apparently because other passengers became alarmed that the men were wearing heavy clothing and kept checking their watches. Cabin crew informed the Spanish authorities of the passengers' fears and the men were taken off the flight.

One of the passengers told a Sunday newspaper: "Some of the older children, who had seen the terror alert on television, were starting to mutter things like 'Those two look like they are bombers'. Some of the passengers were in tears."

After security checks the men boarded a later flight.

Yesterday an Islamic human rights group blamed "ever-increasing Islamophobia".

Massoud Shadjareh, the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "It is counterproductive, not just because it is going to alienate people who are perceived to be Muslim, but also because terrorists have shown that they will make themselves look completely different to how people perceive them to look.

"By profiling people on the basis of ethnicity or religion we are actually endangering our lives."

Patrick Mercer, the Conservative homeland security spokesman, described the incident as a victory for terrorists.

"These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally. For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense."

Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham, said: "I think that what happened is just hugely irrational." Monarch confirmed that the men were removed, but would not give details of what they had done to arouse the fears of the other passengers.