KnowledgeCash - Infolope

Aviation Security, Air, Plane, Gambia, Nigeria, Africa West

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities on Friday identified the man removed from a West Africa-to-New York flight after apparently being added to the U.S. no-fly list while airborne.

Harold Demuren, the head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, said officials from Delta Air Lines named the detained passenger as Salieu Badjan, a Gambian. Demuren said Badjan boarded the overnight Delta flight when it stopped in Dakar, Senegal.

Continued

Badjan's status remained unclear Friday.

After the plane landed in Puerto Rico to refuel Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detained him. They later issued a statement identifying him only as "potential person of interest" who was removed from the flight for questioning.

Passengers told The Associated Press that the captain announced over the intercom that the man had been added to a roster of people banned from travel to the U.S. while the plane was in flight.

Jeffrey Quinones, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman, declined to comment Friday. Quinones would not say whether Badjan was still in custody.

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Associated Press writers Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Abdoulie John in Banjul, Gambia, contributed to this report.

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