ippine capital when a U.S. airline refused to allow him aboard a flight without being frisked, officials said Thursday. Adding a bizarre twist to the incident, the Continental Airlines flight that Palau President Tommy Remengasau would have boarded was targeted by a bomb threat called in to the military and was forced to turn back. No bomb was found.
The Philippine air force chief said it was unlikely the two incidents were linked.
Palau Ambassador Ramon Rechebei said the Philippines has apologized for Wednesday night's incident and paid for a private aircraft to take Remengasau, his wife and ministers to Palau's capital, Koror, on Thursday.
Remengasau refused to be frisked in order to board the Continental flight -- with Philippine officials, led by Vice President Noli de Castro, on hand to see him off -- and returned to his hotel, Rechebei told The Associated Press, saying such inspection was embarrassing.
The vice president and Philippine diplomats tried to intervene, asking that Remengasau be exempted from the search in accordance with protocol for visiting heads of state, but the airline refused to budge, airport officials said.
Officials at Continental could not immediately be reached for comment.
Manila airport manager Alfonso Cusi said Remengasau was exempted from other airport security checks, but Continental insisted on frisking him in accordance with rules for U.S.-registered carriers and flights bound for the United States.
Airline officers agreed to send inspectors to check Remengasau privately at the airport lounge, but the president refused, he added.
"I am well aware of security concerns that airlines face and I support their efforts to keep flying safe, but there must be some room for the exercise of common sense in all decisions, and there must be respect for the dignity of the highest level of government," Remengasau said in a statement.
He said he will bring up the matter with regional airlines serving Palau and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to ensure respect for visiting heads of state.
But he said the incident should not tarnish his state visit to the Philippines, with the two countries signing agreements on air services, medical tourism, education and telecommunications.
The Continental Airlines flight, scheduled to take off at 9:45 p.m., left shortly after midnight without Remengasau. At least three Palau ministers and the head of the country's senate boarded the flight after being frisked, Rechebei said.
Less than an hour after take off, air force intelligence received an anonymous bomb threat from a cell phone and relayed the information to the airport control tower, air force chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog told the AP.
The flight returned to the airport, where an inspection of the aircraft and passengers found no bomb, said Senior Superintendent Efren Labiang, director of the police aviation security group. Cadungog said officials were trying to track the source of the cell phone call.
The flight, with 129 passengers on board, finally left at 4:35 a.m. Thursday, Labiang said.
Rechebei said the Palau officials on board decided to stay behind when the plane returned to Manila and take the private plane with Remengasau.
Palau, an island chain of about 200 islands, only eight of which are permanently inhabited with a total of about 20,000 people, is about 1,287 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Guam and 805 kilometers (500 miles) east of the Philippines.
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