Arabic-speaker removed from flight seeks apology

A California university student who was taken off a Southwest flight after another passenger heard him speaking Arabic wants an apology. The incident unfolded as Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was waiting for his April 6 flight from Los Angeles to Oakland to take off. Makhzoomi, an Iraqi refugee, said he had called his uncle in Baghdad after taking his seat when he noticed a fellow passenger staring at him, said an executive from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The woman reported him to Southwest staff and Makhzoomi was escorted off the plane. After he was removed from the flight, the student was searched by drug-sniffing dogs and subjected to a physical search. FBI agents questioned Makhzoomi before releasing him without charges, an FBI spokeswoman said. Southwest said that its employees had acted within protocol in response to another Arabic-speaking passenger's report of what were perceived to be threatening comments. <br/>