DON'T mention the word bomb on a 'plane

Yet another story of a French citizen falling foul of local authorities while abroad.

After the case of those detained in Brazil in December for causing a disturbance on a 'plane, comes the story of Jean-Louis Lioret, who finds himself behind bars in Abu Dhabi for "making a pleasantry about a bomb".

These are perhaps more than ever times during which witticisms or quips don't exactly go down a storm at airports or aboard 'planes, no matter how clever or smart you might think they are.

Actually maybe they never did as customs and passport officials are hardly renowned for their sense of humour.

And in the light of what happened on Christmas Day last year when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, it's hardly surprising that questions have been raised about air safety and security and that cabin crew and passengers alike are more alert and sensitive.

That's something maybe Jean-Louis Lioret should have borne in mind as he made what he obviously thought was a harmless comment but for which he now finds himself behind bars in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Lioret was on his way from Paris to Bangkok last week on board the UAE's national carrier Etihad, when the 'plane made a scheduled stopover in the country's capital Abu Dhabi.

Another passenger reportedly asked the 66-year-old retired engineer if he could place a package next to him in a vacant seat and, according to Lioret's brother, Michel, who has managed to talk to him in prison, he agreed.

"Of course," responded Lioret. And then those ill-judged words, "As long as it's not a bomb,"

"It was just a pleasantry" says his brother. "And even though Jean-Louis tried to tell the cabin crew as much, they alerted security and he was taken off the 'plane."

Lioret and his brother (and perhaps others) might have thought the remark to be inoffensive, but airline staff and local officials obviously didn't think so as the Frenchman was "arrested in accordance with international standards currently in use, that any passenger suspected or even joking about terrorism can be stopped."

In the UAE an individual can apparently be held for seven days without being charged.

The French deputy consul in the UAE, Carole Loisel, who has reportedly also spoken to Lioret, says the conditions in which he is being held are good.

"He has not yet appeared before a judge," she said. "So we don't know exactly what he is alleged to have said."