Gerry Adams Cites Washington Airport Security Holdup in Missing Buffalo Visit

BUFFALO, New York_Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams headed Saturday for Boston, having missed a scheduled St. Patrick's Day appearance in Buffalo the night before, saying he was held up by security officials at a Washington airport.

Adams, who missed other planned Buffalo appearances Saturday, said he was on a train from Washington to Boston, still separated from his luggage, and would come to the western New York city another time. He and two traveling companions were trying to board a flight Friday to Buffalo, when they and their bags were held up for extra inspections, he said.

Congressman Brian Higgins told a crowd of several hundred people Friday night that Adams was detained because his name and that of a traveling companion turned up on a terror watch list. Higgins said Adams should not be on any such list. The Buffalo Democrat had invited Adams to speak at the Buffalo Irish Center.

Adams, whose Irish Republican Army-linked political party represents most Catholics in Northern Ireland, had met earlier Friday with U.S. President George W. Bush and other Irish leaders in Washington and briefed a Bush adviser on the stalled peace process in Northern Ireland.

"It's long been an occupational hazard for me and for other Sinn Fein representatives to be held for lengthy periods at airports across the USA," Adams said Saturday. They arrived at Washington-Dulles International Airport at 3:30 p.m. Friday and missed the 5:30 p.m. Buffalo flight due to the extra security screening, he said.

"I don't blame the people in the airports for that. I've raised it directly with the White House and the State Department," Adams said. "They have not told us we're on the terrorist watch list. If we are, surely we shouldn't be."

Earlier Friday, Adams joined Bush and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern at a White House St. Patrick's Day ceremony also attended by Mark Durkan, whose Social Democratic and Labor Party represents moderate Catholic opinion in the British territory of Northern Island.

Bush last year barred all Northern Ireland leaders from the event.

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the federal Department of Homeland Security, declined to say whether Adams' name is on a terrorist watch list. "There are privacy restrictions that prohibit us from disclosing names on selectee or no-fly lists," he said.

Adams was subject to a secondary inspection, "but that was a routine screening," Knocke said. "That doesn't equate to detention." He acknowledged Adams missed the flight, but questioned whether inspections alone were the reason, saying he didn't know what time Adams arrived at the airport, or whether it was with the recommended lead time.

The Transportation Security Administration's Web site says the average maximum time for clearing Dulles' main security checkpoint ranges from nine to 24 minutes late Friday afternoons.