Dubai:A US Senate contender, who discovered Omani currency on American soil, has raised an alarm about the threat of Islamist militancy in his country.
Kevin Wade, a Republican businessman running for a Senate seat for the state of Delaware, recently travelled to the southern border with Mexico to assess for himself some of the problems the “broken border” faces.
Among the issues that caught his attention was the presence of Middle Eastern currency. The aspiring politician took a picture of the 10-rial Omani note, and tweeted: “Omani rials at Rio Grande. Border secure? #DoNothingSenate where is ISIS now?” referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group that has overrun large parts of Syria and Iraq and beheaded two American journalists in recent weeks.
Referring to the note, he added: “I held it. It’s the real deal. #DoNothingSenate ignores. Pres. Obama busy golfing”.
Wade told local radio station WGMD92.7 later that a “patriotic” Texas rancher brought the note to his attention after he found it on his property.
“... the family has asked [me] not to disclose their name and their address, because frankly they’re concerned for their safety. I’m concerned about the safety of their family and... the safety of families in this country”.
Wade called a press conference after the discovery, where he admitted that he did not know what purpose its owner had for bringing the currency over the US border, reported news site delawre.newszap.com.
He told the radio station that he was concerned that the person carrying the Omani rials got through the border.
Wade declined to respond to questions about his discovery.
He has over 500 ‘likes’ on Facebook and a similar number of followers on Twitter.
The Senate hopeful recently made a trip to Israel, as is customary for a number of aspiring US politicians, from where he tweeted pictures of himself with Israeli occupation soldiers and taunted his Democratic opponent: “To my US Senate race opponent Sen. Coons (D). How do I learn #IDF at Gaza Frontier? I GO THERE”.
Ten Omani rials are equivalent to $26, the approximate price of a Lonely Planet guide to Oman, the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula.
