Shehryar Afridi Stopped at JFK Airport for Secondary Screening
By Anwar Iqbal
Washington: Shehryar Khan Afridi, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, was stopped briefly at New York’s JFK Airport for screening but was later allowed to enter the United States, said an official statement released on Saturday.
Mr Afridi arrived in New York via flight QR-0701 (Qatar Airlines) at 3:15pm on Sept 15. JFK sources claimed that Mr Afridi was stopped for secondary screening when he failed to satisfy immigration officials at his first screening.
According to these sources, he was questioned for about an hour and was allowed to enter the country when the Pakistan consulate in New York confirmed his credentials.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, however, said Mr Afridi was allowed to go without any delay. “As a first-time visitor Mr Afridi was put through secondary screening briefly and was cleared in routine without any guarantees being sought or given by anyone from the Embassy or the Consulate,” the spokesperson said.
Later, Mr Afridi and top Kashmiri rights activists at a meeting agreed to help highlight Kashmir dispute in the United States. - Dawn
