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FBI Tentatively Identifies Man in Jetliner Explosive Scare
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. investigators launched a probe Sunday into a jetliner explosive scare aboard a trans-Atlantic flight by a man said to be carrying explosives in his shoes who told authorities he was a Sri Lankan Muslim, a U.S. senator said.
Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS that the man, who carried a false British passport identifying him as Richard Reid, "was trying to blow himself up, blow the plane up and we are very fortunate that it did not happen."
Shelby, who said the Federal Bureau of Investigation had briefed him, said federal authorities were taking the matter very seriously.
It was still unknown whether the man, who French police said had identified himself to Boston police as Sri Lankan national Abdel Rahim, was acting alone or in concert with others.
"The message is that terrorists are going to hit us again. Is this part of a widespread deal or is this guy acting alone? We don't know yet," Shelby said.
"But I have to believe, from what I have been told, they were explosives in his shoes. I have to commend the crew, especially the stewardess, for acting as fast as they did."
French officials said the suspect was turned away from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Friday, perhaps because he had no baggage to check in, but that he successfully boarded the American Airlines flight to Miami the next day after changing his identity.
Airline staff had turned the man away at the check-in because he was "behaving bizarrely, was agitated and had a worrying look," a French police source said.
His passport, which was issued in Belgium, also appeared brand new, although police had verified that it had not been reported stolen.
"The next day, the man passed through, again without baggage. Usually someone taking a long-haul flight without luggage should be reported to police in the country he boarded, but this was not done," the police source said.
U.S. immigration officials said they believed the passport to be a forgery - identifying the man as Richard Colvin Reid, born in 1973.
There were 185 passengers aboard the Boeing 767 bound from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to Miami International Airport.
Passengers and members of the 12-person crew overpowered the suspect after a flight attendant, smelling sulfur, observed him trying to light a fuse protruding from his shoe. The 6-foot-4 suspect resisted and bit the flight attendant, authorities said.
"We are told the flight attendant was drawn to him by the smell of sulfur from a lit match, and then challenged him as to what he was doing," said Thomas Kinton, interim executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority at Logan Airport in Boston where the flight was diverted at about 1800 GMT Saturday.
Passengers subdued the man, some taking off their own belts to secure him into his seat, officials said. After he had resisted efforts to subdue him, doctors onboard flight 63 gave him sedatives from the plane's medical kit and strapped him into a seat until the plane landed and an FBI team entered the cabin.
"When he was attempted to be subdued, he said he was wired,'' said Kinton.
Passenger Eric Debry, 42, of Paris, said he reached over the seat and pulled the man's arms back.
"I jumped on his shoulder. Two other guys came and took his legs,'' said Debry.
The suspect 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, who was seated about 10 rows behind the suspect. "It's pure instinct because it goes so fast. You're not going to think twice."
Philippe Acas, 39, of St. Quentin Enyvelines, France, said the passengers also found two audiotapes in his possession and turned them over to the pilot.
The plane, American Airlines Flight 63, was escorted to Logan by two U.S. F-15 fighter jets where it landed at 12:50 p.m. with police, fire and bomb squads standing by. The suspect is being held at the Massachusetts State Police barracks at Logan, officials said.
The passengers were detained late Saturday for questioning and completed their trip to Miami early Sunday.
Laura White, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Airport Authority, said the material found in the suspect's shoes was consistent with the plastic explosive C-4, used for both industrial and military purposes, adding his stash was enough to cause considerable damage to the aircraft.
"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 C-4,'' said White.
"We're told by the bomb teams on board that, if it indeed is an improvised explosive, there certainly is enough there to do sufficient damage to an aircraft in flight, certainly," said Kinton.
The term "improvised explosive" is often used by authorities to identify virtually any bomb not stolen from a military arsenal.
Plastic explosives of that type cannot be detected by X-rays or other scanning devices used in airports, transportation experts said, explaining that the explosive can only be detected by sniffer dogs.
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 destroyer, the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors and wounding 39.
A federal criminal complaint was being prepared Sunday by the U.S. Attorney's Office here, to be filed with a magistrate of the U.S. District Court in Boston.
Details of the complaint, including the suspect's name, were to be released later Sunday, said a spokesman for the attorney's office. The man was not expected to appear in court until Wednesday, as courts nationwide are closed until after Christmas.
U.S. President George W. Bush was immediately notified of the incident, the White House said.
The incident was certain to raise new concerns among already-jittery Americans who have curtailed their holiday season travel because of the September 11 suicide plane hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
"Any story about airplanes is bad because people are already nervous,'' said George Bera, 30, a banker who was stopping at Miami International Airport on his way from Spain to Peru.
Following Saturday's incident, passengers and crewmembers arriving for flights departing from Logan were required to remove their shoes for security screening.
"I was surprised when I was asked to remove my shoes," said passenger Troy Bauman on Saturday.
"I thought it was because I had purchased a one-way ticket just a few days ago. But when I learned about the shoe incident, I could understand the extra precautions."
The U.S. government and commercial airlines have taken steps to tighten security aboard planes, including banning knives or other blades and increasing the number of passengers whose luggage is searched.
On December 11, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned airlines of the possibility of hijackings in the United States and Europe during the holidays, and cautioned that hijackers could conceal weapons in their shoes, according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity. The sources did not say what intelligence prompted the warning.
The F-15s were ordered into the air by the Defense Department, which since September 11 has been in regular contact with the FAA.
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