BOMB SUSPECT - Is British

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News - Homefront Preparations : One Thread

BBC

Sunday, 23 December, 2001, 16:25 GMT Briton held over plane 'bomb'

The plane was escorted by fighters before landing

A man being detained by the FBI after attempting to detonate explosives on a flight from Paris to Miami is British, according to Scotland Yard. The suspect, who boarded American Airlines flight 63 in Paris alone and without luggage, was overpowered by flight attendants and passengers during the mid-air drama.

We are treating this matter very seriously and we stand ready to help with any investigations

Foreign Office spokeswoman Officials in Britain were contacted by their US counterparts after they discovered the man - thought to be aged 27 - held a British passport issued in Belgium three weeks ago.

The man, who is of Middle Eastern appearance, was travelling on a passport issued in the name of Richard Reid.

Consular access

It is not certain whether the passport was valid, false or stolen but Scotland Yard has confirmed that the man being held is British.

"He has been taken in for questioning in Boston and we are seeking consular access in the normal way," said a Foreign Office spokeswoman.

"We are treating this matter very seriously and we stand ready to help with any investigations," the spokeswoman told BBC News Online.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: "We are liaising with the FBI and making inquiries at their request."

It is understood that an airline stewardess spotted the man trying to set fire to his shoe about three hours into the flight.

Flight diverted

As cabin staff attempted to restrain the 6ft 4in man he became violent, resisting and biting one woman flight attendant.

Passengers joined in the struggle and he was eventually subdued and sedated by two doctors on board.

The Boeing 767, which was carrying 185 passengers and 12 crew, was then diverted to Boston's Logan airport and escorted in to land by two F-15 fighter jets.

When the man's shoes were X-rayed plastic explosives and a crude detonator capable of causing "catastrophic" consequences were found.

State of alert

The mid-air drama unfolded as anti-terror officers in Britain continued their probe into the contents of the MV Nisha, a ship intercepted in international waters on Friday following a tip off that it was carrying "terrorist material"

So far no illegal substances have been recovered from the vessel, which was carrying 26,000 tons of sugar from Mauritius en route to London, but is currently moored off the Isle of Wight.

Britain is already on a high state of alert following the 11 September atrocities.

Earlier this month Scotland Yard warned of a dual threat from dissident Irish republicans and international terrorists during the launch of a pre-Christmas anti-terrorism campaign in London.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001

Answers

WIRE: 12/23/2001 12:18 am ET

Substance in shoe of passenger on flight diverted to Boston tests positive for explosives

The Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) A preliminary test Sunday found explosives in the sneakers of a passenger whose attempts to ignite one of the shoes forced a Miami-bound jetliner to land in Boston, The Associated Press has learned.

American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris landed safely Saturday afternoon after flight attendants and fellow passengers subdued the man. The Boeing 767 jetliner with 185 passengers and 12 crew members on board was escorted by military jets to Boston's Logan International Airport.

The suspect, taken into custody by the FBI, was to be charged with interfering with a flight crew, according to a law enforcement official in Boston who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary test of a substance in the man's shoes was positive for explosives. "There will be further tests to determine exactly what he had," the official said Sunday.

French police identified the suspect as Tariq Raja, 28, a Sri Lankan national, and said he boarded the flight using a British passport under the name Richard Colvin Reid.

A French Border Police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his agency learned of Raja's identity and nationality from sources in the United States. He would not say whether the information came from U.S. law enforcement authorities, government aviation officials or American Airlines.

In Washington, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the FBI told him in a briefing Sunday there were explosives in the suspect's shoes.

"This is taken very, very seriously," Shelby said on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation" program. "From what I've observed, this man was trying to blow himself up, blow the plane up. Is this part of a widespread deal or is this guy acting alone? We don't know yet."

About two hours before the flight landed in Boston, the suspect, who was sitting behind the wing in the coach section, tried to light a fuse protruding from his shoe, according to American Airlines spokesman Al Becker. A flight attendant intervened and the 6-foot-4 suspect resisted and bit her, authorities said.

Passengers subdued the man, some taking off their own belts to secure him into his seat, officials said. Two doctors used the airplane's onboard medical kit to sedate him, and the man's shoe was removed.

"When he was attempted to be subdued, he said he was wired," said Thomas Kinton, interim executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport.

Passenger Eric Debry, 42, of Paris, said he reached over the seat and pulled Reid's arms back.

"I jumped on his shoulder. Two other guys came and took his legs," said Debry.

Reid was held down for 10 minutes while others collected about 20 leather belts to restrain him, Debry said.

"I was there in five seconds, and there were already two or three guys on him. It was like everybody knew what they needed to do," said passenger Thierry Dugeon, 36, of Paris. He described the shoes as hightop-type basketball sneakers.

Philippe Acas, 39, of St. Quentin Enyvelines, France, said the passengers also found two audio tapes in his possession and turned them over to the pilot.

The incident, just three days before Christmas, increased anxiety among some airline passengers, many of whom have been reluctant to fly since the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings.

"It's like playing Russian roulette. You just don't know where the next event's going to happen," said Blossom Hoag of Boston, who was at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., on Sunday.

The government and airlines have taken steps to tighten security aboard planes since suicide hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, including banning knives or other blades and increasing the number of passengers whose luggage is searched.

Two of the four hijacked jetliners took off from Logan Airport, resulting in a shake-up at Massport, the agency that oversees the airport.

Passengers on one of the hijacked jets, United Flight 93, are believed to have fought their hijackers and caused the jetliner to crash into a Pennsylvania field instead of an apparent Washington target.

Since Sept. 11, some pilots have urged passengers to attack anyone who attempts to interfere with the operation of a plane.

On Dec. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines of the possibility of terrorist hijackings in the United States and Europe during the holidays, and cautioned that hijackers could conceal weapons in their shoes, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The sources did not say what intelligence prompted the warning.

Two F-15 fighter jets escorted Flight 63 to Logan, where it landed at 12:50 p.m. with police, fire and bomb squads standing by.

"They X-rayed the shoe and found that in the heel, there were holes drilled, and there looked to be a detonator wire, and the substances consistent with (the explosive) C-4," said Massport spokeswoman Laura White.

The shoe was rendered harmless and taken to an FBI lab, along with the man's other shoe, officials said.

C-4 is a military plastic explosive. Its main ingredient is RDX, which is also used in fireworks. The whitish, puttylike substance can be easily molded by hand. Although large amounts of C-4 can explode if they are burned, small amounts are unlikely to be detonated without a blasting cap.

The explosive was used in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors and wounding 39.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001


It now appears that the man is Sri Lankan.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001

I think what is happening here is TPTB know that his British passport is fake but the Brits have these nice terrorism laws, so the folks from the embassy in DC can interrogate the guy. If they admitted he was a Sri Lankan national, then they would have no grounds to get information out of him.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001

Either way, we can't turn him over to the Brits cuz they don't believe in the death penalty...

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001

I think he has to be arrested on British soil to activate that particular quirk in the law. If he's arrested in a foreign country, tango sierra--he's subject to those laws. Besides, there'll be an "Oops! Sorry, we finally found someone who has a key to the passport file drawers and we've found out this passport is a fake. But in the meantime, we have all this info so we may as well use it." (Then there'll be a snort.)

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ