Jan 8, 2002 A civil rights organization is demanding Northwest Airlines apologize for allegedly forcing a Muslim high school student to remove her head scarf at an airport security checkpoint. In a letter to the Minnesota-based carrier, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said the December 18 incident was an example of religious harassment and an equivalent of a public strip search. The council is asking the airline to investigate the incident at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and discipline the security guard. "For a Muslim woman to be forced to take off her headscarf in public is a violation of rights," wrote Hodan Hassan, a spokesman for the civil rights group. "These women believe covering their hair in public - essential to being modest - is a mandate from God." According to the council, the 17-year-old was en route from her home in Alexandria, Va., to visit relatives in California. She wrote to the council about the incident. Hassan said the council has received a dozen similar complaints about allegations of racial profiling during searches at airports since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.