‘They should apologise on national TV’

A PAKISTANI woman whose daughter’s carry-on luggage caused an airport to shut down for nine-and-a-half hours says it was her ethnic background, not a few bottles of suspicious liquids, that set off security officials.

FBI tests turned up no evidence of explosive materials in the bottles carried at Tri-State Airport in West Virginia by Rima Qayyum, a 28-year-old dressed in the traditional Islamic headcover.

No charges were filed against the woman, who was never detained and co-operated with the FBI.

Qayyum’s mother Mian said her daughter is four months pregnant, lives in the US and is innocent.

“It was racial discrimination because there was nothing. They should clear her name and apologise on national TV.”

The terminal was evacuated after two bottles of liquid in Ms Qayyum’s bag initially tested positive for explosives.

Chemical tests of the bottles’ contents later turned up no explosives.