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ISLAMABAD: Shehryar Khan Afridi, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, was stopped briefly at JFK Airport in New York for screening but was later allowed to enter the United States.
Afridi arrived in New York on September 15 via Qatar Airways flights where he was stopped for a secondary hearing.
Sources claimed that Afridi was stopped for secondary screening when he failed to satisfy immigration officials at his first screening. The development sparked rumours including a photograph of Afridi undergoing a stripped-down body search.
According to reports, Afridi was questioned for about an hour and was allowed to enter the country when the Pakistan consulate in New York confirmed his credentials.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Embassy in Washington said Afridi was allowed to enter without any delay.
“As a first-time visitor Mr Afridi was put through secondary screening briefly and was cleared in routine without any guarantees being sought or given by anyone from the Embassy or the Consulate,” the spokesperson said.
Shehryar Afridi said the time it took him to go through the immigration and other checks was not unusual and the reports of him being held at the airport were “fake news”.
Speaking to a private news channel, he said the enemies of Pakistan were spreading fake news because they were unsettled by his US visit and mission to promote the Kashmir cause.
“Fake news cannot deter me,” he said. He added that every country has its rules and regulations that one needed to follow. Afridi said he did not like the idea of protocol officers waiting for him.