Members of the Muslim Brotherhood traveling to the United States were given special treatment normally reserved for dignitaries and allowed to bypass certain security screens at John F. Kennedy International Airport, newly released documents revealed.
The New York Post reported that the State Department granted Egyptian members of the organization “port courtesy” status during visits in March and April of 2012. The documents that revealed the special treatment came by way of a Freedom of Information Act request from the International Project on Terrorism.
The documents reveal how the travel perk was made available to members of the Brotherhood before the group’s Freedom and Justice Party even took over Egypt’s government in June 2012, with the rise of Mohammed Morsi to power.
For instance, one senior member of the Brotherhood who visited the United States, Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, was escorted right through security checkpoints at JFK and avoided a “secondary inspection” that would have allowed screeners to sift through his baggage and electronic equipment, The New York Post said.
“We did not hear anything further from the [Muslim Brotherhood] so we assume [the] departure went smoothly,” one department official reported in the documents.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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