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Man arrested in Boston for airport al-Qaida joke
By Karyn Chenoweth Oct 3, 2007, 14:34 GMT
Crews lay asphalt at Logan Airport with the Boston skyline behind them REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A Washington taxi driver faces a criminal charge because he joked about being a member of al-Qaida to an airline worker at Logan airport in Boston.
Ermiyaf A. Asfaw, an Ethiopian born immigrant, was returning to Washington from a visit to his girlfriend Saturday when an Air-Tran check-in employee asked him about stickers on his luggage from Dubai. He told her he had been in the United Arab Emirates.
"No. I'm al-Qaida. I'm with them, and I'm here to blow things up," he said when she asked if it had been a trip for business or pleasure.
The Boston Globe reports that Asfaw has been charged with making a false bomb threat. A judge set bail Monday at $1,500.
"This airport is not going to tolerate this type of behavior," said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority. "This type of action is completely dumb."
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