Kjell Magne Bondevik describes shock after being held and questioned at Dulles hub under new US entry controls 
 
 A former prime minister of Norway has spoken of his shock after he was held and questioned at Washington Dulles airport because of a visit to Iran three years ago. 
 
 Kjell Magne Bondevik, who served as prime minister of Norway from 1997-2000 and 2001-05, flew into the US from Europe on Tuesday afternoon to attend this week’s National Prayer Breakfast. 
 
 He was held for an hour after customs agents saw in his diplomatic passport that he had been to Iran in 2014. Bondevik said his passport also clearly indicated that he was the former PM of Norway. 
 
 “Of course I fully understand the fear of letting terrorists come into this country,” he told ABC7. “It should be enough when they found that I have a diplomatic passport, [that I’m a] former prime minister. 
 
 
 
 ‘Turning people away was heart-wrenching’: Dubai airport worker on Trump's travel ban Read more 
 
 “That should be enough for them to understand that I don’t represent any problem or threat to this country and [to] let me go immediately, but they didn’t.” 
 
 Bondevik, who is the president of the Oslo Centre, a human rights organisation, said he was placed in a room with travellers from the Middle East and Africa who were also facing extra scrutiny. 
 
 He said he was ordered to wait for 40 minutes, before being questioned for another 20 minutes about his trip to Iran, which he had taken to speak at a human rights conference. 
 
 “I was surprised, and I was provoked,” he said. “What will the reputation of the US be if this happens not only to me, but also to other international leaders?” 
 
 
 
 An executive order signed by Donald Trump last week temporarily bans all travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Sudan and Somalia – from entering the US. It also suspends the US refugee resettlement programme for 120 days and puts an indefinite stop to the acceptance of Syrian refugees. 
 
 The order caused chaos at airports across the US and sparked protests and worldwide condemnation. Many people who were en route to the US when the order was hastily signed, including those with green cards, were detained on arrival at US airports, denied boarding on to US-bound flights, or taken off planes by security officials before takeoff. 
 
 Bondevik said Dulles officials told him he had been detained because of a 2015 law signed by Barack Obama that placed restrictions on travellers from those seven countries, or travellers from elsewhere who had recently visited those countries. 
 
 But he said he had never had a problem visiting the US before, and that his office was told by the US embassy in Oslo before his trip that his passport and a separate electronic travel authorisation were all he needed. 
 
 
 
 Speaking to the TV2 channel, Bondevik expressed further concern about the Trump administration’s tactics. “I understand the fear of terror, but one should not treat entire ethnic groups in such a way,” he said. 
 
 “I must admit that I fear the future. There has been a lot of progress over the last 10 years, but this gives great cause for concern, in line with the authoritarian leaders we see controlling other major countries.” 
 
 A spokesperson for US Customs and Border Protection said it was prohibited by law from discussing specifics of any individual’s admissibility review. 
 
 On Friday, Iran took retaliatory action by banning US wrestlers from participating in the Freestyle World Cup, one of the most prestigious competitions in international wrestling. 
 
 The IRNA news agency quoted Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, as saying a special committee reviewed the case and “eventually the visit by the US freestyle wrestling team was opposed”. 
 
 Ghasemi said the policy of the new US administration left Iran no other choice but to ban the wrestlers. ||||| A former prime minister of Norway tells ABC7 he was questioned and prevented from leaving Dulles Airport for about an hour Tuesday, apparently because he had visited Iran in 2014. 
 
 Kjell Magne Bondevik served as prime minister of Norway two separate times, from 1997-2000 and 2001-2005. 
 
 He flew into Dulles Airport from Europe Tuesday afternoon and says he was not immediately allowed to leave after customs agents saw in his passport that he had been to Iran. 
 
 He showed ABC7 that his passport also indicates he is the former prime minister of Norway, a U.S. ally. 
 
 "Of course I fully understand the fear of letting terrorists come into this country," Bondevik told ABC7 outside the Washington Hilton Wednesday night. 
 
 But, he said, it should have been obvious he's not a terrorist. 
 
 "It should be enough when they found that I have a diplomatic passport, [that I'm a] former prime minister," Bondevik said. "That should be enough for them to understand that I don't represent any problem or threat to this country and [to] let me go immediately, but they didn't." 
 
 Instead, Bondevik says he was placed in a room with travelers from the Middle East and Africa who were also facing extra scrutiny. He says he had to sit and wait for about 40 minutes, and then he was questioned for about 20 minutes regarding a trip to Iran in 2014. 
 
 Bondevik is president of a human rights organization called The Oslo Center, and in 2014 he went to Iran to speak at a human rights conference there. 
 
 Although President Trump's controversial temporary travel ban has led to extra scrutiny of many travelers in the past week, Bondevik says he was told the scrutiny he received had nothing to do with it. Instead, it was related to a 2015 law signed by President Obama. 
 
 The law was signed in the wake of terrorist attacks in California and Paris and was aimed at protecting the U.S. from terrorists. 
 
 It places extra restrictions on some citizens from 38 countries -- including Norway -- that are part of the U.S.'s Visa Waiver Program. 
 
 Citizens of those countries normally do not need a visa to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days, but because of the law they now do need a visa if they have been to Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia or Yemen since March 2011. Those are the same seven countries Trump included in his temporary travel ban. 
 
 The Department of Homeland Security's website says there are exceptions to the 2015 law that are granted on a case-by-case basis. Those exceptions include people who have traveled to Iran or the other six countries on behalf of international or regional organizations. 
 
 Bondevik says his office contacted the U.S. Embassy in Oslo prior to his trip this week and was told his passport and a separate electronic travel authorization (called ESTA) would be sufficient to enter the United States. 
 
 "I was surprised, and I was provoked," he said about being set aside for questioning. "What will the reputation of the U.S. be if this happens not only to me, but also to other international leaders?" 
 
 A spokesperson with U.S. Customs and Border Protection says "CBP is prohibited by privacy laws from discussing specifics of any individual’s admissibility review." 
 
 Bondevik says he contacted the Norwegian Embassy in D.C. after what happened. A spokesperson said the embassy was "happy that things were sorted out." 
 
 ABC7 was told by a source that a wait of an hour is not considered unusual for people entering the country who receive "secondary examinations." 
 
 Bondevik came to the United States to attend Thursday morning's National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton. ||||| President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) 
 
 President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on U.S. President Donald Trump and his ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries (all times local): 
 
 3 a.m. 
 
 The Homeland Security Department says a New York court order temporarily barring the U.S. from deporting people from nations subject to President Donald Trump's travel ban will not affect the overall implementation of the White House executive action. 
 
 The agency said the court order affected a relatively small number of travelers who were inconvenienced by security procedures upon their return. 
 
 The department's statement said: "President Trump's Executive Orders remain in place— prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety," according to the DHS statement. 
 
 Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the White House, said that nothing in the judge's order "in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the president's executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect." 
 
 ___ 
 
 11 p.m. 
 
 Foreign-born U.S. residents who could have been barred from re-entering the United States under President Donald Trump's immigration order have been allowed back into the country. 
 
 That's according to a Department of Homeland Security official who briefed reporters on Saturday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss details of the matter. 
 
 Trump's order Friday barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States for 90 days. That meant that even those with permanent residency "green cards" or other visas risked not being let back in to the United States. 
 
 However, the official said all green card holders from the seven countries who sought to enter the U.S. Saturday were granted special permission. 
 
 It's not clear if other green card holders will be admitted. The official said cases are being reviewed individually. 
 
 — Alicia Caldwell 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:40 p.m. 
 
 A federal judge in New York has issued an emergency order temporarily barring the U.S. from deporting people from nations subject to President Donald Trump's travel ban. 
 
 U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly issued the order Saturday evening after lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union filed a court petition on behalf of people from seven predominantly Muslim nations who were detained at airports across the country as the ban took effect. 
 
 Cheers broke out in a crowd of demonstrators outside a Brooklyn courthouse as the decision, effective nationwide, was announced. 
 
 The order barred U.S. border agents from removing anyone who arrived in the U.S. with a valid visa from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. 
 
 It also covered anyone with an approved refugee application. 
 
 It was unclear how quickly the order might affect people in detention. 
 
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 7 p.m. 
 
 New York City's Kennedy Airport became a scene of anguish Saturday for relatives of people detained after arriving in the U.S. from nations subject to President Donald Trump's travel ban. 
 
 Lawyers and advocates working at the airport say they didn't have a hard count on the number of people taken into custody after getting off their flights. 
 
 Yosre Ghaled was among about a dozen distraught people waiting at a terminal Saturday to see if loved ones would be released or deported. 
 
 She says her mother-in-law's sister had been detained. 
 
 The 67-year-old Yemeni citizen had flown to the U.S. to live with family because she is sick from heart problems and diabetes. 
 
 Two members of congress joined hundreds of protesters at the airport, demonstrating against the detentions. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1 a.m. 
 
 The government of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is taking exception to the Israeli prime minister's praise of a border wall to keep out illegal immigration. 
 
 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter Saturday that "President Trump is right" for building a wall. 
 
 "I built a wall along Israel's southern border," he wrote. "It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea." 
 
 Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a communique that it had expressed its "profound surprise, rejection and disappointment in the prime minister's message on Twitter" to Israel's ambassador. "Mexico is Israel's friend and should be treated as such." 
 
 ____ 
 
 12:20 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says his crackdown on refugees and citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries "is not a Muslim ban." 
 
 A day after signing an executive order implementing the ban immediately, Trump says it's "working out very nicely." 
 
 But confusion, worry and outrage boiled over Saturday as airlines blocked people from traveling to the United States and legal challenges were mounted. 
 
 Included is a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The U.S. refugee program is suspended for 120-days. 
 
 Trump's order imposed the most aggressive ban on Syrians, indefinitely blocking entry to the U.S. by anyone from that country, including those fleeing civil war. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:10 a.m. 
 
 Airlines around the world are turning away passengers, refunding tickets and rebooking flights in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's immigration order. 
 
 The order signed Friday included a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen. It also suspended the U.S. refugee program for four months. 
 
 That forced airlines to tell some customers they couldn't proceed on flights to the U.S. 
 
 Dubai-based Emirates said a small number of its passengers were affected Saturday, and it was helping them rebook. Delta Air Lines and British Airways both said they were offering refunds for passengers who couldn't complete their trips. 
 
 Several airlines, including Qatar Airways, posted travel alerts on their websites warning customers about the changes. 
 
 ____ 
 
 11:50 p.m. 
 
 In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says his country's decision to not issue give Americans visas will not be retroactive. 
 
 Zarif says on Twitter: "Unlike the U.S., our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed." 
 
 U.S. visa restrictions that took effect on Saturday for people from several countries, including Iran, ban travel even for those who already had American visas. 
 
 ____ 
 
 11:20 p.m. 
 
 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a message for refugees rejected by U.S. President Donald Trump: Canada will take you. 
 
 Trudeau tweeted Saturday "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada ." 
 
 Trudeau also tweeted a picture of him greeting a Syrian child at Toronto's airport. 
 
 Trudeau oversaw the arrival of more than 39,000 Syrian refugees soon after he was elected in late 2015. 
 
 The young prime minister has been reluctant to criticize President Donald Trump. His government has been trying to balance his liberal view of the world while not offending the new Trump administration. 
 
 More than 75 percent of Canada's exports are to the U.S. 
 
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 10:20 p.m. 
 
 An Iraqi who was detained overnight at a New York City airport because of President Donald Trump's ban on refugees from certain Muslim nations has called America "the land of freedom" after being released from custody. 
 
 Hameed Khalid Darweesh worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army when it invaded Iraq in 2003. Later he was a contract engineer for the U.S. 
 
 He was granted permission to relocate to the U.S., but was detained along with another traveler from Iraq after arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport Friday night. 
 
 Lawyers petitioned a federal court early Saturday to let them go. Two Democratic U.S. Representatives, Nydia Velazquez and Jerrold Nalder, were at the airport trying to get 11 other detainees released. 
 
 After he was freed Saturday, Darweesh told a waiting crowd that "America is the greatest nation, the greatest people in the world." 
 
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 9:50 p.m. 
 
 In Somalia, people are reacting with dismay and warnings that countries could retaliate against the United States' new immigration and visa policies with restrictive policies of their own. 
 
 "I am shocked beyond words. This will mean that my new husband will never be able to join me in the U.S.," said Fatima Ashkir, a Somali-American woman from Florida who came to Mogadishu to marry her Somali boyfriend. 
 
 Others say they are not surprised at President Donald Trump's executive order imposing a three-month ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Somalia. 
 
 "His intentions of hurting rather than to help were clear from the very beginning," said Ahmed Abdullahi, a university student in Mogadishu. "But you have to know that this will have a serious effect on relations between Americans and the Muslim world. A tit-for-tat response by Muslim countries, in which Americans could be barred from entering countries affected, is likely to be seen." 
 
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 8:30 p.m. 
 
 Iran's foreign ministry is suggesting the country will limit issuing visas to American tourists in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump's suspension of immigration and visas for nationals from Muslim countries including Iran. 
 
 The official IRNA news agency Saturday carried a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry that says Iran will resort to "counteraction" to Trump's executive order. 
 
 The statement says: "Iran, to defend the dignity of the great Iranian nation, will implement the principle of reciprocity until the removal of the insulting restriction against Iranian nationals." 
 
 The statement adds: "It will apply corresponding legal, consular and political actions." 
 
 The two countries have had no diplomatic relations since 1979 when militants stormed the U.S. embassy. 
 
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 8 p.m. 
 
 Cairo airport officials say five U.S.-bound Iraqi migrants from one family who have been prevented from boarding an EgyptAir flight to New York's John F. Kennedy airport would return to Iraq. 
 
 They said the five will spend Saturday night at Cairo airport and leave for Irbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdish region, Sunday morning. 
 
 They added that the sixth U.S.-bound migrant, a Yemeni national, left the airport to return to Cairo, where he resides. 
 
 The officials said Saturday's action by the airport was the first since President Donald Trump imposed a three-month ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. 
 
 The officials said the six migrants, escorted by officials from the U.N. refugee agency, were stopped from boarding the plane after authorities at Cairo airport contacted their counterparts in JFK airport. 
 
 The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. 
 
 (This story corrects the number of U.S.-bound Iraqi migrants to five, not six) 
 
 — Hamza Hendawi. 
 
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 7:05 p.m. 
 
 Dutch airline KLM says it has had to turn away seven would-be passengers because they would no longer have been accepted into the United States under President Donald Trump's ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. 
 
 Manel Vrijenhoek, at KLM's press office, said: "We would love to bring them there. That's not the problem. It's just that this is what the U.S. sprang on the rest of the world — that these people are no longer welcome." 
 
 She said the seven were due to fly with KLM from different airports around the world. Vrijenhoek said she had no specifics on their nationalities, although she confirmed they were from countries affected by the three-month immigration ban: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. 
 
 Trump signed the order Friday. 
 
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 6:40 p.m. 
 
 A U.S. federal law enforcement official says any non-U.S. citizen from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen is now barred from entering the United States. 
 
 That covers legal permanent residents — green card holders — and visa-holders from those seven countries who are out of the United States after Friday, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order with the temporary ban. They cannot return to the U.S. for 90 days. 
 
 The official says there's an exemption for immigrants and legal permanent residents whose entry is in the U.S. national interest, but it's unclear how that exemption will be applied. 
 
 The official says visa and green card holders already in the U.S. will be allowed to stay. 
 
 The official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the details of how Trump's order is being put in place and spoke only on condition of anonymity. 
 
 Customs and Border Protection is notifying airlines about passengers whose visas had been canceled or legal residents scheduled to fly back to the U.S., and the airlines are being told to keep them off those flights. 
 
 — Alicia Caldwell 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:35 p.m. 
 
 Israel's leader has endorsed President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the Mexican border. 
 
 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted Saturday that Israel's wall along its border with Egypt has been successful in stopping a swell of African migrants. 
 
 "President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea," he wrote, with images of the Israeli and American flag. 
 
 The tweet marked a rare public foray for the Israeli leader into a charged American domestic affair. The two leaders spoke earlier this week and Netanyahu is planning to visit Trump in the White House next month. 
 
 After repeated clashes with President Obama, Netanyahu has high expectations for Trump, who has signaled he will take a kinder approach. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:45 p.m. 
 
 Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 to stop her campaigning for girls' education and co-winner of the 2014 Nobel peace prize, says she is heart-broken by U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on refugees from entering the United States for four months. 
 
 The order Friday suspends a program that saw around 85,000 people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice resettled in the U.S. last year. Trump indefinitely blocked people fleeing Syria's civil war, and imposed a 90-day ban on U.S. entry from seven Muslim majority nations. 
 
 In a statement Saturday, Yousafzai implores Trump "not to turn his back on the world's most defenseless children and families." 
 
 Refugees and immigrants, she says, have "helped build your country." 
 
 Trump's mother was born in Scotland. 
 
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 5:15 p.m. 
 
 Qatar Airways is advising passengers bound for the United States from seven newly banned majority Muslim countries that they need to have either a U.S. green card or diplomatic visa to travel. 
 
 A statement on the company's website says: "Nationals of the following countries: Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen ... may travel to the U.S. only if they are in possession of a permanent resident card (Green card) or any of the below visas." 
 
 It listed foreign government, United Nations, international organization and NATO visas. 
 
 President Donald Trump has issued a 90-day ban on all entry to the U.S. from countries with terrorism concerns, including Syria, Iraq and Libya. 
 
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 3 p.m. 
 
 Cairo airport officials say seven U.S.-bound migrants — six from Iraq and one from Yemen — have been prevented from boarding an EgyptAir flight to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. 
 
 The officials said the action Saturday by the airport was the first since President Donald Trump imposed a three-month ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. 
 
 The officials said the seven migrants, escorted by officials from the U.N. refugee agency, were stopped from boarding the plane after authorities at Cairo airport contacted their counterparts at the Kennedy airport. 
 
 The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. 
 
 — Hamza Hendawi. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:45 p.m. 
 
 The head of a leading refugee aid agency says President Donald Trump's decision to ban Syrian refugees hurts innocents fleeing violence. 
 
 Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council tells The Associated Press on Saturday that Trump's decision "will not make America safer, it will make America smaller and meaner." 
 
 Trump on Friday suspended refugee admissions for four months and indefinitely banned those from war-torn Syria, pending program changes that are to ensure refugees won't harm national security. 
 
 Egeland says the decision dealt a "mortal blow" to the idea of international responsibility for those fleeing persecution. He says the U.S. is leading a "race to the bottom" in which politicians in wealth countries provide "zero moral leadership." 
 
 ___ 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the time has come for removing walls between nations rather that building new ones. 
 
 Rouhani did not name any particular country but his remarks come shortly after President Donald Trump's executive order Friday suspending all immigration and visa processes for nationals from a handful of countries with terrorism concerns, including Iran, for 90 days. 
 
 Rouhani said Saturday that, "It is not the day for creating distance among nations." 
 
 Speaking at a tourism conference broadcast on state TV, Rouhani said that those seeking to create such walls, "have forgotten that the Berlin Wall collapsed years ago." 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:30 p.m. 
 
 The International Rescue Committee is calling President Donald Trump's suspension of the U.S. refugee resettlement program a "harmful and hasty" decision. 
 
 In a statement issued late Friday night after the suspension was announced, IRC President David Miliband said, "America must remain true to its core values. America must remain a beacon of hope." 
 
 The IRC statement declared that the U.S. vetting process for prospective refugees is already robust — involving biometric screening and up to 36 months of vetting by "12 to 15 government agencies." 
 
 Miliband praised The United States' record as a resettlement destination and said, "This is no time for America to turn its back on people ready to become patriotic Americans."
– A former prime minister of Norway was caught up in the chaos at US airports this week, though it's not clear which president's actions caused the issue. Kjell Magne Bondevik, the country's PM from 1997 to 2000 and 2001 to 2005, flew from Europe to DC's Dulles airport Tuesday to attend the National Prayer Breakfast—and was detained for an hour, the Guardian reports. The problem? Customs agents looked at his passport and saw he traveled to Iran in 2014. He says officials told him he was being held because of a law then-President Obama signed in 2015 that requires citizens of certain countries (including Norway) to have a visa to enter the US if they've visited specific countries (like Iran) since 2011. But there are exceptions (ABC 7 explains in greater depth), and Bondevik says he's never before experienced any trouble coming into the US with that passport stamp. Further, his office checked with the US embassy in Oslo before this trip to ensure he would have no issues. Bondevik tells ABC 7 he possesses a diplomatic passport, which clearly states that he is the former PM of Norway. "Of course I fully understand the fear of letting terrorists come into this country," he says, but "it should be enough when they found ... [I'm a] former prime minister." He says he was made to wait for 40 minutes, then questioned for 20 minutes about the Iran trip, which he took so he could speak at a human rights conference. Though Bondevik wasn't quoted mentioning President Trump by name, he had this to say: "I fear the future," he tells the Local. "This gives great cause for concern, in line with the authoritarian leaders we see controlling other major countries."