JEDDAH, 7 February 2003 — An American Muslim was prevented from boarding a British Airways flight bound for Jeddah at Heathrow Airport on Jan. 23, for no apparent reason.
Ahmed Saleh, in transit from Philadelphia to Jeddah, had reached the boarding gate for the connecting flight when he was detained.
“I have no idea why they picked me out,” he told Arab News yesterday. “No one else was stopped.”
He was told by the immigration officer who selected him from among the passengers that his visa was not valid for Saudi Arabia.
A day later, having missed his connection and lost some of his luggage, Ahmed was told by the Saudi Embassy that this was incorrect and his visa was in fact valid.
British Airways, like all airlines under longstanding IATA regulations, are liable for the cost of repatriation of a passenger if the visas presented at the start of a journey turn out not to be valid.
Ahmed Saleh was already halfway through a journey when the invalidity was claimed.
The duty officer for Terminal 4 told Arab News that this was not an immigration matter, and refused to comment further.
On Jan. 25, three days after being detained, Ahmed finally reached Jeddah; his baggage has still not arrived.
So far, Ahmed has received neither explanation nor apology from UK immigration. Nor has there been any explanation from British Airways.
