Monday, December 12, 2011

9/11 FAA Bans Salman Rushdie From All US Airline Flights Due To 'Securit...

Uploaded by on Dec 12, 2011

Very rare CBC Sept 11 6:08 AM (3 hours before). Shortly after 9/11, the London Times reported that author Salman Rushdie believed US authorities had known of the imminent attack when they banned him from taking flights in Canada and the US just a week before. The Times reported: On September 3 the Federal Aviation Authority made an emergency ruling to prevent Mr Rushdie from flying unless airlines complied with strict and costly security measures. Mr Rushdie told The Times that the airlines would not upgrade their security.

According to the Times, the FAA had told Rushdie's publisher that US intel had given a warning of "something out there", but did not give any further details. The FAA then confirmed that it had increased security measures regarding Rushdie, but refused to provide a reason.

Salman Rushdie authored The Satanic Verses; a fictional work that was deemed sacrilegious to the Muslim community. The controversial novel earned him a "death sentence" placed by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. In the book, Rushdie names the members of a brothel after the Prophet Muhammed's wives, renounces the Koran as the true word of God, and makes obscure jokes about the Islamic religion.

The Daily Mail will later report, "US aviation authorities were warned of a terrorist attack by an Islamic group only days before the September 11 atrocities. The CIA issued a confidential warning that Muslim fundamentalists were preparing a spectacular attack imminently, but it was unable to specify the target." Around this time, author Salman Rushdie is traveling in North America to promote a new book. [Daily Mail, 10/7/2001] In 1989, Iranian clerics issued a fatwa (death threat) against Rushdie for perceived insults to Islam, but the fatwa was lifted in 1998 and Rushdie had recently emerged from hiding. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/23/2001] According to the Daily Mail, aviation regulators conclude Rushdie is the likely target of this CIA warning, and the FAA imposes new restrictions on him on September 6, 2001 (see September 6, 2001). At least two airlines prevent Rushdie from flying with them at all. [Daily Mail, 10/7/2001] Apparently the FAA takes no other action and gives no other warning except for extra security measures involving Rushdie. The 9/11 Commission will later briefly mention the pre-9/11 restrictions on Rushdie but will not explain what the intelligence was exactly that led to the restrictions. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 56 ]

The FAA places severe flight restrictions on author Salman Rushdie, who is in the US to promote a new book. The restrictions are so strict and costly that at least two airlines refuse to fly him at all. The FAA tells Rushdie's publisher that US intelligence has given warning of "something out there" but fails to give any further details. One newspaper will later state, "The FAA confirmed that it stepped up security measures concerning Mr. Rushdie but refused to give a reason." [London Times, 9/27/2001; Daily Mail, 10/7/2001] The Daily Mail will later report that the CIA secretly gave the FAA a "confidential warning that Muslim fundamentalists were preparing a spectacular attack imminently, but it was unable to specify the target." But the only action the FAA takes is to require more security for Rushdie's flights (see Shortly Before September 6, 2001). Rushdie had been the subject of an Iranian fatwa (death threat) until it was lifted in 1998. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/23/2001]

On the morning of September 11, 2001, just hours before the 9/11 attacks begin, the Globe and Mail, Canada's largest newspaper, reports a front page story entitled "Air-Travel Ban Keeps Rushdie Out of Canada." The story notes that author Salman Rushdie was not allowed on an Air Canada flight into Canada on September 7, 2001, and he canceled a planned Canadian trip as a result. The article correctly notes that on September 6, the FAA "issued an emergency directive banning Mr. Rushdie from all flights in and out of the United States, reflecting a heightened state of alert" (see September 6, 2001). Rushdie is also having trouble flying inside the US because of the restrictions and one US flight he had recently scheduled had been canceled. The article says the FAA will not explain why the directive about Rushdie had been issued. [Globe and Mail, 9/11/2001] But the Daily Mail will later report that the CIA gave the FAA warning of a spectacular and imminent Muslim fundamentalist attack and the FAA incorrectly guessed this had to do with Rushdie traveling on a book tour (see Shortly Before September 6, 2001). Rushdie had been the subject of an Iranian fatwa (death threat) until it was lifted in 1998. He was in Houston, Texas, for a book reading as part of a North American book tour and planned to fly to Minneapolis on 9/11. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/23/2001]

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