Qatar "has decided to reassign the diplomat and he will be leaving the country shortly," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

Mohammed Al-Madadi, 27, the third secretary and vice consul of the Qatari embassy in Washington, was released without charge after the incident late Wednesday on a United Airlines flight from Washington to Denver.

Modadi raised suspicion during the flight after sneaking a smoke in the bathroom and then, when confronted, joking that he was lighting his shoes.

Earlier reports said the diplomat was on his way to an official visit with an imprisoned Al-Qaeda sleeper agent. Al-Madadi, was going to pay a consular visit to the prisoner, said Alison Bradley, a public relations executive hired to speak for the Qatari Embassy, and a State Department official.

The prisoner, Ali Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, is serving eight years 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 researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack.

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

Bradley said Qatari diplomats have made multiple visits to Al-Marri in prison since he pleaded guilty. The right to such visits is guaranteed by international agreements, and the US Bureau of Prisons had approved this visit by Al-Madadi in advance.