January 18, 2002	Friday	Ziqa'ad 3, 1422

CHICAGO, Jan 17: A Muslim woman who said she was subjected to a humiliating search at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport filed a lawsuit on Wednesday that asked for an injunction banning searches based on racial profiling.

Samar Kaukab, 22, a student from Columbus, Ohio, who is a US citizen of Pakistani descent, said she was singled out at an airport security checkpoint in November by an Illinois National Guardsman and thoroughly searched by security personnel.

In front of other passengers, the security guard repeatedly passed a metal-detecting wand over Kaukab and ordered her to remove her scarf. She refused unless it could be taken off in private and was taken to a room where female guards performed an extensive hand search on her body that she said left her frightened and humiliated.

No contraband was found and neither Kaukab nor her carry-on luggage set off a metal detector, the plaintiff’s attorney said.

The suit filed in US District Court, which named as defendants the commander of the Illinois National Guard and airport security firm Argenbright Security, Inc., asked for an injunction barring searches based on unreasonable grounds such as ethnic or religious affiliation. It also asked for unspecified monetary damages.

Following the Sept 11 attacks, National Guard troops were assigned to US airports and security checkpoints beefed up. Several passengers of Middle Eastern descent have complained of being targeted.—Reuters