LONDON (AFP) - The decision to remove two men from a flight before it took off from the Spanish port of Malaga for Manchester after fellow passengers feared they might be terrorists was condemned by Muslim leaders in Britain, it was reported.
Some among the 150 passengers on board the Monarch Airlines flight demanded that air staff remove two men after they expressed alarm about their behavior early on Wednesday, a spokesman for the airline said on Sunday.
Cabin crew informed Spanish authorities of the passengers' fears and the men -- who apparently looked Asian and spoke Arabic -- were taken off the flight and questioned by police.
The pair flew back to Manchester later in the week and were not arrested by British police.
Khalid Mahmoud, a governing Labour Party MP, told The Guardian the decision was "hugely irrational".
"You can't just accuse anybody who's of Asian appearance and treat them like a terrorist.
"If somebody is threatening anybody it's understandable, but when they are just travelling for their own needs it's not.
"People just need to calm down."
The Islamic Human Rights Commission told the newspaper that "ever-increasing Islamophobia" was to blame for the removal of the men.
The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, quoted Muhammad Abdul Bari, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, as saying: "While it is sensible for all of us to be vigilant, it is not sensible to pick on Muslims simply because they happen to dress differently or appear to be speaking to each other in Arabic."
Travellers have been increasingly jittery in the wake of Britain's announcement that an alleged terror plot was foiled about 10 days ago, and the terror alert level raised to the highest possible -- "critical" -- causing chaos at airports in Britain and around the world
Some among the 150 passengers on board the Monarch Airlines flight demanded that air staff remove two men after they expressed alarm about their behavior early on Wednesday, a spokesman for the airline said on Sunday.
Cabin crew informed Spanish authorities of the passengers' fears and the men -- who apparently looked Asian and spoke Arabic -- were taken off the flight and questioned by police.
The pair flew back to Manchester later in the week and were not arrested by British police.
Khalid Mahmoud, a governing Labour Party MP, told The Guardian the decision was "hugely irrational".
"You can't just accuse anybody who's of Asian appearance and treat them like a terrorist.
"If somebody is threatening anybody it's understandable, but when they are just travelling for their own needs it's not.
"People just need to calm down."
The Islamic Human Rights Commission told the newspaper that "ever-increasing Islamophobia" was to blame for the removal of the men.
The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, quoted Muhammad Abdul Bari, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, as saying: "While it is sensible for all of us to be vigilant, it is not sensible to pick on Muslims simply because they happen to dress differently or appear to be speaking to each other in Arabic."
Travellers have been increasingly jittery in the wake of Britain's announcement that an alleged terror plot was foiled about 10 days ago, and the terror alert level raised to the highest possible -- "critical" -- causing chaos at airports in Britain and around the world