NEW DELHI, July 14: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage apologized on Wednesday to a senior Indian politician who was twice searched vigorously by airport security on visits to the United States.

"I called my friend George Fernandes not to express my regrets but my sincere apologies," Mr Armitage said. Mr Fernandes was India's defence minister in the BJP-led government voted out of power in May.

"But let's get the facts right, he was not strip-searched. He removed his shoes and I found this something worthy of an apology," Mr Armitage told a news conference at the end of a day-long visit to the Indian capital.

Indian media and politicians have been outraged after reports quoting a former US official said George Fernandes was twice "body-searched" by US airport security, once during an official visit to Washington in 2002 and the second while in transit on a trip to Brazil last year.

Mr Armitage said he was "horrified" when he heard of the incidents. "We don't like the situation in which we find ourselves ... the need to protect our borders in such a - let me use the word intrusive - way," Mr Armitage said, referring to the stringent security measures since the Sept 11 hijack attacks in the United States. "And we long for the day when things will be better."-Reuters