Sources: Envoy who caused scare was to visit terror suspect

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

A Qatari diplomat was on his way to an official visit with an imprisoned al-Qaida sleeper agent when he touched off a bomb scare by slipping into an airline bathroom for a smoke, officials said Thursday as the diplomat prepared to leave the U.S.

The diplomat, Mohammed Al-Madadi, was going to meet Ali Al-Marri in prison, according to a State Department official and another person close to the matter. Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, is serving eight years in prison after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to support terrorism.

Al-Marri was arrested after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, accused of being a sleeper agent.

Consular officials frequently visit foreigners held in the U.S. to make sure they are being treated well.

The purpose of his visit raises further questions about Al-Madadi’s behavior, such as why someone familiar with terrorism cases would apparently flout airline security rules. Law-enforcement officials said Al-Madadi later joked that he had been trying to light his shoe — an apparent reference to the 2001 so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid.

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