Update 3: Syrian band’s strange actions on flight launch media search

(Desert Sun) "They garnered headlines in New York. The story made the rounds of cable news and the Internet.
Their journey sparked speculation that their Detroit-to-Los Angeles flight may have been a "dry run" by terrorists probing for weaknesses in America’s commercial aviation networks.
It’s a lot of attention for 14 Syrian musicians on a flight to a desert casino gig.
The 14-piece Syrian band that reportedly played at a desert casino is said to have caused a stir on a Detroit-to-Los Angeles flight en route to the job.
The scene was documented by passenger and journalist Annie Jacobson in a 5-page report entitled "Terror in the Skies, Again," posted at www.womenswallstreet.com.
Band members’ mysterious ways on the plane included furtive glances, unusual restroom congregations and an unexplained bag from a fast-food restaurant that may or may not have contained hamburgers, according to one passenger’s account of the flight.
The activity was suspicious enough to raise eyebrows among not only passengers but the crew, and even federal air marshals who happened to be on the flight.
It made for great theater.
It also touched off a search for the still-unidentified band by media eager to document the existence of the Syrian mystery tour.
"It has been ridiculous," said Diane Delisiandra, entertainment booking coordinator at Trump 29 Casino near Coachella.
Delisiandra said she’s been fielding calls since last week from people looking for the elusive Middle Eastern troupe.
"I didn’t really pay attention until I got the call from ‘Inside Edition,’ " she said, citing the tabloid television show.
The Syrian men, whom Jacobsen said carried Arabic language passports and boarded in groups of six and eight, were greeted in Los Angeles by federal agents when their flight arrived June 29.
"As we exited the jetway and entered the airport, we saw many, many men in dark suits .... Several men -- who I presume were the federal air marshals on board -- hurried off the plane and directed the 14 men over to the side," Jacobsen wrote.
But Dave Adams, spokesperson for the Federal Air Marshal Service, said the men’s names didn’t crop up on any terrorist watch lists and there was no evidence they had done anything wrong.
"They were a Syrian band that was traveling to Southern California to perform in a desert casino," Adams said.
He said that federal agents verified the Syrians’ story by following them to the casino and watching them perform before seeing them off two days later on a flight from Long Beach to New York.
Citing privacy, Adams wouldn’t identify the casino or the band to corroborate the government’s version of events.
"The band did nothing wrong. We would not release the name," Adams said.
Jeanne Elliott, national security coordinator for the Professional Flight Attendants Association, said there was not enough evidence to speculate about the Syrians.
"They were dark, Middle Eastern and they seemed to behave suspiciously," Elliott said. "I think it is perception."
She said the crew on the plane did the right thing by unobtrusively watching the passengers and alerting authorities.
So far, calls by several media outlets to casinos from Lake Havasu to Los Angeles haven’t confirmed the show, and Adams said agents who attended didn’t describe the performance or whether the band would be good enough to open for Attorney General John Ashcroft, the face of America’s anti-terror Patriot Act, who composes and sings patriotic songs in his spare time.
The mystery has, however, touched one member of a Syrian band that was mistakenly linked to the incident.
Kinan Azmeh, of the band Kulna Sawa, says he hasn’t been to California since 1998, when he performed with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra.
But an Internet account of the recent airline incident wrongly linked Kulna Sawa to the event.
The confusion, Azmeh said, has complicated plans for Kulna Sawa tour stops in the Golden State.
"The name is being used in a terrible context," said Azmeh, who said he regularly endures five- to six-hour waits at airports. "We are planning our tour. I’m a bit concerned about all this." "