Seven-year-old mistaken for terror suspect

A seven-year-old boy has been left traumatised after being stopped as a possible terror suspect three times by airport staff.

Javaid Iqbal's family even missed their flight home from America because of the confusion, caused because his name matched that of a terror suspect.

Javaid, of The Pastures, Blackburn, said: "I'm only at a young age and being named a terrorist is wrong."



Accompanied by his mum NaushabaNadeem, 35, and her three other children Sana, nine, Fareeha, nine, and Iftikhar, five, they were held up for three hours at Manchester Airport, one and half hours at Orlando International Airport and a further two hours Philadelphia International Airport on the way home, which resulted in them missing their flight.

His name was blocked and raised a security alert on each airport's computer system, set up by Homeland Security, a US security organisation set up to protect against terrorism.

Javaid, whose passport now contains a stricker saying he has undergone high-level security checks, said: "All this was about my name, they said that it had a block on it. We felt scared. I havent done anything against the law."

Javaid's dad, Nadeem Iqbal, 48, a consultant anaesthetist based in Burnley General Hospital, said: "My son is psychologically traumatised by this experience and said he doesn't want to fly to America again."

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