Islamic-American Group Calls for Probe into Airport Incident

Religion Roundup
Islamic-American Group Calls for Probe into Airport Incident

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A spokeswoman for the Phoenix office of the American Council on American-Islamic Relations says "prayer is not a suspicious or criminal activity."

Bushra Khan says six imams who were removed from a U.S. Airways flight bound for Phoenix on Monday are shocked and hurt by the incident.

The Council is now calling for an investigation into the behavior of the airline's staff and airport security. Council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper says there's a "growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports."

The six Muslim scholars were returning from a conference in Minneapolis. A U.S. Airways spokeswoman says passengers raised concerns after three of the Muslim scholars said their evening prayers before boarding the flight.

An airport spokesman says police were called after the captain and airport security workers asked the men to leave and they refused to do so.

The airline has released a statement saying it does not "tolerate discrimination of any kind." U.S Airways says it's interviewing crew members and ground workers about the incident.