Angered by the diplomatic infringement that happened last week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell on Tuesday called the search "highly improper."
"It has been brought to the attention of [United States] Secretary of State, Colin Powell that we object to this procedure because it is something that we do not subject persons visiting this country to," he said. "We believe it is improper…it has been taken to the highest level."
The Bahamas has raised strenuous objections.
Robert Kerr, chief of the U.S. Embassy's Political, Economic and Public Affairs Section also said that he was sorry the Bahamas head of state had endured the ordeal.
"I myself last Friday called the foreign Ministry…and expressed regret that any such incident had occurred. I raised that we had received the [diplomatic] note and we were sorry about it," he said.
Mr. Kerr explained that each airport determines its security procedures.
"We have registered our general concerns that heads of state be afforded the best courtesies that are possibly but ultimately it is not our decision in terms of how those policies are undertaken."
On Sunday October 5th as Dame Ivy was about to board an American Airlines flight to the Heads of Commonwealth States Conference in St. Kitts and Nevis, airport security escorted her to a room to be searched.
The stringent security measures were hiked in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on America in 2001. But such searches of diplomats are virtually unheard of and highly irregular.
Some American officials who refused to be quoted said they are embarrassed by this incident.
For some time now, Minister Mitchell has voiced his opinion publicly on similar instances involving public officials, but says it seems that those concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
"I've spoken on many occasions inside the House and outside the House about our concerns that we've raised on a number of occasions with the United States about public officials of The Bahamas traveling through the United States and being searched by their officials in the airports of the United States. The protests we've made are to no avail.ﾠ Weﾠ continue to work on the issue," he told the Journal.
According to the Minister, Miami Consul General, Alma Adams informed him of the incident involving the Governor General.
He was unable to say whether American diplomats and public officials have ever had to undergo a security search, but he stressed that there is a certain level of respect that must be accorded diplomats.
"We consider it improper and that's the view we've put to them and we've asked them to sort it out so it doesn't happen again.ﾠ That's our position.ﾠ I don't think it says anything about the broader relations with the U.S government.ﾠ I think it's the internal government of the United States.ﾠ They can't seem to get its act together on that point.ﾠ We're continuing to work on it," Minister Mitchell said.
"We're not making it a big issue, but we certainly object most strenuously to the Governor General being searched.ﾠ It's improper from our point of view and it is something that we protest highly against, but you have to deal with these things in some scale," he added.
Dame Ivy returned from the trip to St. Kitts on Friday, but left the country on Tuesday for her vacation in Washington DC. She is expected to return on October 23rd.
"The authorities were properly notified that she was traveling.ﾠ I don't know what provoked this," said a source at Government House.
According to another source, the U.S government was made aware of the Governor General's visit on September 23rd, almost two weeks in advance.
"I'm sure Minister Mitchell in his capacity as Foreign Affairs Minister will get to the bottom of it," said the source who was unable to reveal Dame Ivy's state of mind following the incident.
By Hadassah Hall, the Bahama Journal
