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Per John Kiriakou, his most wholly negative experience with a foreign intelligence service: arrested at Sana'a Airport in Yemen in 1991, eighteen months into his CIA career, after his Riyadh station chief asked him to carry a diplomatic pouch on a long-weekend trip. Yemeni officials demanded the sealed pouch go through the X-ray machine. When the scan revealed a handheld walkie-talkie inside, someone shouted 'Jassus' — spy — and Kiriakou was handcuffed and placed in an airport cell. The incident triggered a diplomatic chain reaction reaching the Yemeni Prime Minister before a Yemeni officer hacked open the diplomatic seal with a curved jambiya dagger to confirm the pouch contained only mail and the radio. Kiriakou spent the rest of the weekend under heavy surveillance; he later said each of his five trips to Yemen was worse than the last.
John Kiriakou described being arrested at Sana’a Airport in Yemen in 1991 — an incident he characterized as his most wholly negative experience with a foreign intelligence service. He was approximately twenty-six years old at the time, eighteen months into his CIA career, and posted to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The visit and the pouch
Kiriakou had been invited to Yemen by a friend and colleague stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a, with the occasion being a long weekend over the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. His station chief approved the trip and, as an afterthought, asked him to carry a diplomatic pouch. The business-class ticket for the pouch — an unclassified gray bag, carrying mail and a handheld radio that Kiriakou described as the equivalent of a RadioShack walkie-talkie — meant he had ample room on the short flight from Jeddah.[1][2][3][4]
The arrest
Diplomatic pouches are sealed with a lead impression of the Great Seal of the United States and are protected from inspection under international treaty. Sana’a Airport officials told Kiriakou to put the pouch through the X-ray machine. He refused. They pulled their guns. He put it through. The X-ray showed mail and a walkie-talkie. Someone shouted “Jassus” — spy, in Arabic.[5][6][7]
Kiriakou was handcuffed behind his back and placed in an airport cell. The only other occupant was a Filipino male nurse whose visa had expired. Kiriakou explained what had happened. The nurse said: “What are you going to do?”[7][8]
The diplomatic escalation
The incident triggered an international response. Over four to five hours, the U.S. Ambassador arrived, then the CIA station chief, then the head of Yemeni intelligence, then the Foreign Minister. The matter reached the Prime Minister. Kiriakou was eventually released after a Yemeni officer drew the curved traditional dagger — a jambiya — and hacked open the lead seal. He held up the walkie-talkie. That was all there was.[8][9]
Kiriakou was placed under heavy surveillance for the entire weekend. He described this as the first of five trips to Yemen and noted that each subsequent visit was worse than the previous one.[9][10]
Sourced from John Kiriakou's on-record public statements. See his profile for the full body of his interviews, podcast appearances, and short-form video.
