US apologizes after Venezuelan FM held at NY airport

NEW YORK: US-Venezuela tensions have worsened despite a US apology after Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro was detained at a New York airport.

Maduro and the Venezuelan government rejected the US apology for the incident at John F Kennedy Airport on Saturday and demanded a UN inquiry.

The minister said he was threatened and his travel documents taken away in what he alleged was a US reprisal for a speech by Venezuela's left wing president Hugo Chavez at the UN General Assembly in which he called US President George W. Bush 'the devil', 'a liar' and a 'tyrant'.

Maduro said in remarks broadcast by Venezuelan television that he was detained in a room for an hour and 40 minutes at the airport before being handed over to Venezuela's UN ambassador.

"I denounce before the world the US government. I ask UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that he speak about this case, that investigations be opened. I demand that the US government respect international rights."

Maduro, who had attended the UN General Assembly in New York, said he was abused after identifying himself to security officiers as Venezuela's foreign minister. 

"The situation got worse because they started insulting, yelling and brought a police officer and they started threatening us," Maduro said.

At a later news conference, Maduro said: "We were threatened with being beaten. They took my passport and plane ticket and only gave them back to me at the end, after I had made a public denouncement of the incident."

He said he received a phone call from Thomas Shannon, the US top diplomat for Latin America, who expressed surprise at the incident.

US State Department officials arrived on the scene, and Maduro said he thought the situation would be resolved. But then "we were told to spread our feet and stretch out our arms so the police could search us."

Maduro said UN chief Annan had designated a team of lawyers that will immediately start work on the case. A UN spokesman had no immediate comment on the incident and could not confirm that an investigation had been started. 

Maduro called the incident an attack against international law, and linked it to the controversial speech by Chavez at the UN General Assembly last week.

US Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke denied the minister had been mistreated.

"There's no evidence to support the claim that his travel documents were taken away, there's no evidence to support the claim that he was assaulted, there's no evidence to support the claim that he was somehow arrested or taken into custody," Knocke said.

Knocke said Maduro was simply asked to go through a routine, secondary security screening. The US State Department later apologized for the incident however.

A department spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos, said: "The State Department regrets this incident. The United States government apologized to Foreign Minister Maduro and the Venezuelan government."

According to a State Department official, airport security services questioned the minister and asked the State Department to confirm his diplomatic identity.

"Diplomatic security was sent out to the airport. We understand he was able to board the plane before it took off but he refused and returned to New York City," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Back in Venezuela, Chavez said the US president had ordered his assassination for his "devil" speech.

"The devil appears very sulphurous, and a few people say that he has given the order to kill me," Chavez said in a speech in western Venezuela.   

"Many concerned friends have called me, (saying) that because I said 'devil' over there, they have sentenced me to die. They will not kill me, I have much faith in life," Chavez added.

Chavez said Maduro had been detained for allegedly taking part in a failed coup attempt that Chavez led in Venezuela on February 4, 1992 against then-president Carlos Andres Perez.