PDX Unveils New Rules to Improve Treatment of Foreign Travelers

PDX Unveils New Rules to Improve Treatment of Foreign
Travelers 
Associated Press

02/11/2004 

Just a week after seven members of the Moroccan
Parliament were detained at Portland International
Airport, officials have released a series of new
policies to improve treatment of foreign travelers. 

The proposals, ranging from improving communications
among agencies to providing "travel tips" for foreign
visitors, were released Monday by Steve Schreiber,
director of aviation for the airport. The
recommendations drew varying responses from federal
agencies that regulate airport security, but no
unqualified endorsements. 

The FBI, the Transportation Security Administration
and Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that they did nothing
wrong in delaying the Moroccan dignitaries. 

The Moroccan officials were boarding a flight about 7
a.m. Jan. 31 when they were stopped because of
confusion over a bag that was briefly left unattended.


The delegates, who speak only French and Arabic, were
delayed a full day, causing them to miss the first day
of an important Islamic festival. 

Although the delegates had been fingerprinted and
photographed by airport security officials in New York
14 days earlier and had met with State Department
officials in Washington, federal security screeners in
Portland had no record of them or their identities and
refused to rely on information on their passports. 

Officials with the Port of Portland, which owns and
operates the airport, worried that the incident would
harm the city's reputation abroad. U.S. Ambassador to
Morocco Tom Riley expressed his "regret" for the
incident, and Arab news services published stories
about what happened. The Port sent an apology last
week, Schreiber said. 

The Transportation Security Administration will
cooperate with the Port in improving at least some
procedures, including using telephone translation
services as they are available, spokeswoman Jennifer
Marty said. 


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