Source: The Telegraph
On January 18, 2004 The Telegraph reported, "In the latest bout of Franco-American squabbling, hundreds of Air France pilots and cabin crew who have French nationality but were born in Muslim countries are furious at being singled out for stringent security measures when they land in the US. Some of the 324 affected employees complain that they were treated like 'terrorist suspects' after being separated from fellow cabin crew and grilled for up to four hours by security agents on arrival at American airports. The treatment, they say, was 'discriminatory and insulting'. The security measures are outlined in a directive from the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), one of a raft of institutions created by President Bush in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. It targets crew born in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and Egypt - countries which the American authorities regard as particularly dangerous sources of terrorists."