Imams pulled off plane sue US Airways

WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- Six Muslim imams removed from a plane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have filed a lawsuit against US Airways.

The imams also named the Metropolitan Airport Commission as a defendant, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. The suit claims the imams were told to get off the plane because of their race and religion.

"To date, we continue to be defamed and feel anxiety every time we fly," Didmar Faja, one of the plaintiffs, said Tuesday during a news conference at the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Washington.

The six were returning from an American Federation of Imams conference in Minnesota in November when some passengers decided their behavior was sinister. The airline called local police and the six were told to leave the plane, examined by bomb-sniffing dogs, questioned and then allowed to resume their trip -- on another airline.