Frisking standoff leaves Palau leader stuck in Manila

MANILA, April 3 (Reuters) - The President of the Pacific island of Palau was left stranded in the Philippines on a state visit after he refused to be frisked before boarding a Continental Airlines flight (CAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), officials said on Thursday.

The flight departed Manila around 10 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Wednesday leaving President Tommy Remengesau and his wife behind.

The plane had to return after midnight after the control tower at Manila's international airport received a call saying there was a bomb on board. No explosives were found, according to General Atilano Morada, chief of the aviation security group.

The flight, with stop-offs in Palau, Yap and a final landing in Guam, departed again at around 0500 am with 140 passengers on board. Remengesau and his wife were still not among them.

Earlier, Continental Airlines had insisted that Remengesau be patted down before boarding the commercial flight much to the dismay of the VIP party, including Philippine vice-president Noli de Castro, who were on hand to bid him farewell after a two-day state visit.

"We expected better treatment accorded to a head of state," Ramon Rechebei, the Palau ambassador to the Philippines, told Reuters.

"The airline demanded that he be frisked before entering the plane otherwise he would not be allowed to enter."

"So, we decided that he should not go through," said Rechebei, adding that Palau may make a formal complaint about Continental through diplomatic channels.

No one from the airline was immediately available to comment.