Washington, September 02: The nine-member delegation, headed by a two-star Navy rear admiral, refused to take part at an annual conference at US Central Command after they were pulled off a plane and questioned for more than two hours.
The officers had boarded a United Airlines flight from Washington to Tampa.
The incident took place late Sunday when one of the officers complained about their long day’s trip, saying he hoped the flight was his last.
“One of the crew members or one of the passengers overheard one of the officers saying to another officer…’I hope this is going to be our last flight,'” a Pakistani official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
The crew considered the remarks as “something scary or related to terrorism,” the official added.
The American security officials reportedly refused to allow the officers to contact the Pakistan Embassy or the US military officials who had invited them to the three-day meeting.
“As a matter of protest at this incident, they cancelled the meeting and turned back to Pakistan,” he said.
The incident may put at danger already sensitive US-Pakistan military relations.
The official said that the Pentagon and Central Command had apologized over the episode.
A Pentagon spokesman also regretted the “unfortunate incident.”
“It’s certainly an unfortunate incident, any time things of this nature happen,” Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.
——–Agencies