Travel Curb: FIA offloads US-bound passenger

KARACHI: A US-bound passenger Abdul Salam was offloaded at the last minute from an Emirates flight departing from Jinnah International Airport on Friday. The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Nasrullah Gondal said Salam’s name was on the Exit Control List (ECL).  He declined to give any details about why Salam was offloaded. “We operated under the normal procedure and offload any passenger found to be on the ECL,” he said, adding that the reasons why Salam’s name was in the list would be known by the interior ministry. Salam was travelling with his wife and held a US passport. FIA denies that Salam or any of his family members were detained after being taken off the flight.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2011.