Update: Cynthia McKinney barred from leaving U.S.; arrived safely

Getting to South Africa in time for the Film Festival is as important to me as was putting my feet on the soil of Gaza.
October 2, 2009 at 16:15:49
By Cynthia McKinney

I was told by a very gracious South African Airlines gate agent that a new law passed by South Africa requiring at least two blank visa pages was strictly enforced and that if they allowed me to fly without the required blank pages, I would be put in jail in South Africa and immediately returned to the US--no questions asked.

I immediately contacted a passport expediter who informed me that the Republic of South Africa is the only country that regulates the number of blank passport pages necessary for admission into the country and that he had just last week dealt with the new law (which took effect in August 2009) for another client. He took my information and my passport in order to obtain a new U.S. passport with only blank pages.

I hope to obtain the new passport today in time to fly to South Africa this afternoon, arrive in Cape Town tomorrow, and participate in the Palestinian Film Festival there. It is my intention to abide by all the rules and regulations governing admission to South Africa because the Palestinian Film Festival is an extremely worthy cause and I want to be there.

Getting to South Africa in time for the Film Festival is as important to me as was putting my feet on the soil of Gaza.

McKinney finally arrived in Cape Town on October 1 and will speak at the opening of the Palestinian Film Festival tonight.
Full:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Getting-to-South-Africa-in-...

Original post:

US politician barred from SA trip
2009-10-01 08:06
Kobus Pretorius

Cape Town - A controversial former member of the American congress and a 2008 presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney, was abruptly removed from a South African Airways flight on Tuesday.

McKinney, who stood against President Barack Obama at an early stage in the race for the US presidency, was barred from boarding an SAA flight to Johannesburg in Washington DC.

She would have traveled to South Africa to act as international guest speaker on the Channel 4 network's first Palestinian Struggle and Human Spirit film festival, which will be held in Athlone from Friday to Sunday.

Passport irregularities

According to SAA, McKinney was refused access to the flight because there were irregularities with her passport.

She became known worldwide when, in her capacity as senator, she introduced articles of impeachment against former US president George W Bush, former vice-president Dick Cheney, and former secretary of state Condaleezza Rice, over the 9/11 attacks and their roles in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

McKinney was recently arrested by the Israeli navy for participating in a Free Gaza Movement boat trip in protest against the occupation of Gaza.

Channel 4 said on Wednesday it is still unclear whether she will be allowed to enter the country.

http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/05ee3c1f...

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/10/former-con...