India-U.S. strip search issue resurfaces

NEW DELHI, July 14 (UPI) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says he was "horrified" by reports a former top Indian minister was searched twice at U.S. airports.

On an official visit to New Delhi, Armitage told reporters Wednesday he had telephoned former Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes to apologize.

"I was horrified about it, and I personally apologized to him," he said.

The allegation Fernandes was "strip-searched" while entering the United States resurfaced Wednesday in a book by former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. Fernandes has said he will not visit the United States again.

The U.S. embassy in New Delhi conceded some "diplomatic procedures" were not followed but Armitage said Fernandes was not strip searched.

"He removed his shoes and I found this something worthy of an apology," he said.

A U.S. State Department official in Washington, who asked not to be identified, said complaints about senior foreign officials being searched at U.S. airports are not new.

"We get certain complaints from foreign officials (and) ... we're trying to smooth them (the system) out," the official said.