Qatari diplomat detained after incident on US plane

A Qatari diplomat has been detained after an incident on a flight from Washington's Reagan airport to Denver.

Two F-16 jets were scrambled to intercept the United Airlines plane and escort it to land safely at Denver airport, US officials said.

Initial reports said the man, who has not been named, had tried to set fire to his shoes.

But officials later said no explosives were found and he had apparently been trying to smoke in a plane toilet.

Investigators were told the man was asked about the smell of smoke in the toilet and he made a joke that he had been trying to light his shoes - an apparent reference to the 2001 "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, AP news agency reported.

Reid, a British citizen, tried to blow up a transatlantic jet with explosives hidden in his footwear.