Qatari Diplomat Attempts to 'Light His Shoes On Fire' on United Flight (Updated)

Air marshals say they stopped a man trying to "light his shoes on fire" on a United flight from D.C. to Denver. The suspect is Mohammed al Modadi, a Qatari diplomat. Update: He was actually smoking in the bathroom.

Yes, it appears these scary reports of a shoe bomb may just be the result of some illicit bathroom smoking and a joke gone terribly wrong.

A source who knows the diplomat told CNN that the man was smoking in the bathroom, then made a joke about what he was doing which might have been related to a shoe bomb. And CNN has word from federal authorities that the shoe was not made of explosives. Confusing! We're pretty sure the shoe bomb alert is off. But the alert for Qatari diplomats being dum-dum heads is ORANGE (ELEVATED).

[ABC]