<<Print>>

After going through a successful routine check-in at the Kotoka International Airport, Madam Anita De Sooso, was left embarrassed when security details informed her that America has placed her name on the �no-fly list� and considers her a terrorist. Madam De Sooso, who serves as a Deputy Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization, has been identified by the US government�s Terrorist Screening Centre as a person who isn�t permitted to board commercial aircraft to the USA. Peacefmonline.com has learnt that following an unfriendly conversation which ensued between the NDC stalwart and a US citizen, Madam Michelle McGowan, the latter lodge an official complaint to the US State Department after fleeing for her life. Michelle McGowan, a philanthropist had wanted to help Ghanaian children with skin problems by raising funds to purchase their medication. For some strange reason, Madam McGowan was arrested days after Madam De Sooso threatened her over the phone, and she (McGowan) cited Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender and Social Protection as part of those who facilitated her arrest. After receiving the official complaint from Madam McGowan, the US government�s Terrorist Screening Centre made their intentions clear to Madam De Sooso when she wanted to travel to their country. Henceforth, Madam De Sooso joins the already 700,000 people caught up in the US government's Terrorist Screening Database (TSD) � a watchlist of "known or suspected terrorists" that is shared with local law enforcement agencies, private contractors, and foreign governments. Of them, more than 40 percent � 280,000 � are described by the government as having "no recognized terrorist group affiliation," dwarfing the number of watchlisted people suspected of ties to al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah combined.