At Customs and Border Protection, Always on the Lookout for a Passport-Toting IMF Staffer

Among the 25,000 rallying in Afghanistan were former fighters against the Soviets, top government officials and war criminals -- a recipe for a relaxed afternoon in the capital. (By David Guttenfelder -- Associated Press)

U.S. citizens landing at our airports after trips abroad often are waved through by Customs and Border Protection officials. Some may think this shows a lack of vigilance. Not so. Officials are on hyper-alert, 24-7. Ask Alex Segura, an employee of the International Monetary Fund in Senegal and Gambia.

Segura, a Spanish citizen, was headed to Washington on Jan. 28 for an IMF executive board meeting at headquarters here the next day. But after a 10-hour flight, he was detained by immigration officials in Atlanta and held for seven hours, even though he had a valid Spanish passport and a highly coveted G-4 visa for employees of international agencies, according to an e-mail we received the other day from Takatoshi Kato, the IMF's deputy managing director.

We're told he even had his beautiful, sky-blue U.N. "laissez-passer" passport, which, while useful perhaps in other countries when the military is banging people around, is of absolutely no use here.

Then, instead of letting him go on to Washington, immigration officials put him on a plane back to Dakar, Senegal, Kato said, noting that this was a "distressing incident."

Turns out this was not the first time immigration officials have barred Segura from entering the country. In March 2004, he was held at Dulles Airport for several hours while his pregnant wife waited for him. He was eventually allowed in.

After that, IMF officials raised the issue with U.S. officials, Kato said, and had "measures" put in place to "prevent such an incident from recurring."

The IMF is trying to figure out once more what's going on. "However, we do know that it is not related to any general change in policy that would potentially affect other staff," Kato wrote.

So maybe it's that Osama T-shirt?

Visiting Kabul? Don't Forget Your Tourniquet

---

Compared with Baghdad, Kabul is the picture of serenity, an oasis of calm. But that doesn't mean folks don't get jittery from time to time. Thursday, for example, there was heightened concern about a rally the next day calling for amnesty for war criminals.

Some of the 25,000 people rallying at the Ghazi soccer stadium -- where the ever-charming Taliban used to torture and behead people -- were former fighters against the Soviets, top government officials and, of course, interested war criminals.

Security officials for one NGO alerted all employees to be careful. "International organizations in Kabul are locking down for tomorrow," an e-mail alert said. "We will do likewise and hence there will be no movement except for essential travel tomorrow." In addition, more guards would be posted and cars and drivers would be ready "in case evacuation is required."

Keep your cellphones charged and on, the e-mail advised, "though it is likely that the network will go down if there is serious trouble." And please have a bag packed with your passport, prescriptions, phone and phone charger along with some cash, a flashlight, a pocket knife, a jacket and a "scarf/cloth that can double as bandage/tourniquet."