WASHINGTON, June 4. /TASS/. The US State Department does not comment on the fact that former UN inspector for monitoring the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction Scott Ritter, who previously served in intelligence in the US Marine Corps, was removed from the flight from New York to Istanbul.

"We cannot comment on the status of the passport of a private U.S. citizen," a State Department spokesperson told TASS.

Ritter previously told TASS that he planned to fly to Russia through Turkey and was supposed to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport. Ritter noted that he was not given a reason why the American authorities did not let him leave the country, saying only that this was being done by the order from the State Department.

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