Pakistani MPs abandon US visit over body scanning

[The Northerner]

Source: Press TV

Pakistani lawmakers belonging to different political parties have refused to visit the United States amid a row over body scanning at American airports.

A senior member of the Pakistani Parliament told Press TV on condition of anonymity that 18 lawmakers had rejected official invitation extended by the US embassy in Islamabad.

The lawmakers say they would not visit the US until their exemption from scanning at US airports.

Earlier this month, a six-member Pakistani parliamentary delegation, protesting full body scanning in Washington, cut short their official US visit immediately to return home.

The US state department had invited them to Washington to discuss security in the troubled tribal regions of Pakistan.

Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says he had raised the issue with US authorities during his recent visit to Washington.

Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122076§ionid=351020401

[truthisfreedom]

1. Fly them in via the military.

[JCMach1]

2. grandstanding... if they wanted to come they would

I have a number of non-privileged Pakistani friends who would love to visit the U.S. if it were not nearly impossible unless you have a massive bank account.

[PSPS]

3. If I were confronted with having to have an electronic strip search, I'd turn around and leave.

[Delphinus]

11. I'm afraid

that it's now standard operating procedure. I could be wrong, but I thought it was already approved and being used here in the US.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[enlightenment]

6. Unacceptable comment.

Liberal values and xenophobia really don't mix.

[cosmicone]

7. Terrorism is Pakistan's official state policy.

Liberal values and reality always go together.

[DissedByBush]

5. People travelling in such a capacity

Normally have diplomatic immunity and are exempt from any type of search.

Something is fishy here.

[sledgehammer]

8. Not entirely accurate

Only those with diplomatic status get such privileges. Delegations like this often do not - they are guests of the host government, not diplomats.

But in today's world, even diplomatic privileges are extremely limited. And diplomats have never been exempted from personal searches. They have always had to go through metal detectors and everything else. So this should be no different for body scans.

The only exemption is that their baggage is sometimes not subject to inspection upon arrival. But on departure, all hand baggage is checked for safety purposes.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. Diplomatic Imunity does not get you out of screening

Anything labeled diplomatic material is exempt from search

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. I don't think you would want to travel by diplomatic pouch,

In any event, objecting to being oogled by authoritarian perverts is a pretty reasonable reason not to travel to the US,