Double trouble

Imagine if this had happened at a Western airport:
Syrian police mistake man for Iranian president Mahmoud AhmadinejadThe bearded man’s distinctive features appeared to be instantly recognisable as he stepped off the plane and entered the arrivals hall of Damascus airport - so much so that the Syrian police, taken aback by his presence, sounded a major security alert.
Puzzled as to why they had not been tipped off about the impending arrival of such an important VIP - Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - flustered officers swarmed around the familiar figure and tried to usher him to a secluded part of the airport, out of harm’s way and away from the prying eyes of the masses.
The Iranian leader, they believed, must have travelled to Syria on the same kind of unannounced trip he sometimes makes in his native country, where he has been known to attend mourning ceremonies and visit deprived areas without prior notice.
His presence on Syrian soil would not have been entirely surprising, since Syria and Iran are allies. But only when word reached Iranian passengers newly arrived on a flight from Tehran that their president was in the airport did it became clear that it was a false alarm.