Dubai blasted by detained Canadian's beau

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A South African man says Canada is shirking its duties in springing his Canadian girlfriend who has been stuck in Dubai since a July airport altercation.

The (Halifax) Chronicle-Herald said Wednesday authorities in Dubai took away Nicole Stroop-Gillis' Canadian passport last summer after she was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and disrespectful of an airport security guard during a layover on a trip from Afghanistan to South Africa.

"She made a simple mistake, which could have been resolved right then and there on the spot," Marc Wood said in an e-mail to the Chronicle-Herald.

The newspaper said Stroop-Gillis was released from custody; however, her passport was confiscated pending a court hearing that has yet to be scheduled.

Canadian officials said they had no new developments to report in the case.

Wood angrily questioned why Canada even bothered maintaining a consulate in Dubai and called for a boycott of flights connecting through Dubai.