Two reports of bomb carrying terrorists for flights

The stories goes along with the general feeling that the
next terrorist attack will not be with cutters but
a bomb. This will destroy those aboard but presumably
not cause ground damage.


Earl

*****

The first report deals with the French flight.

*****


US, Europeans search for possible al-Qaeda bomber



WASHINGTON : Authorities across Europe are searching for a passenger who
failed to show up for an Air France flight on Christmas Eve, ABC News
reported.

The network said US law enforcement officials believe the male passenger has
connections with al-Qaeda and underwent terrorist training in Afghanistan.


The ongoing search for the man who was traveling with a French passport is
one of the factors contributing to the continuing security jitters about
transatlantic flights, said the report, citing unnamed officials.

French officials fear the suspect may have a small bomb whose components
might get past airport security, ABC News reported.

The man had a ticket for Air France's Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles on
December 24, but the flight was canceled and the passenger never showed up
at the airport, according to the network.

*****

the second with the London flights (NY post, which is generally
anti-French, posted on Fox which is the same)


Report: Al Qaeda Plans to Bomb London Flights


Police in England and Europe are seeking* Al Qaeda planning to bomb
trans-Atlantic jets departing* Paris *and* London (search ), security
sources said yesterday.

Two Al Qaeda terrorists with American passports and non-Arab physical
appearances are believed to be planning assaults on trans-Atlantic flights
from London, a U.S. official told The Post.

It's possible that attacks on planes leaving London could be made with shoe
bombs, similar to the attack attempted by* Richard Reid (search )*in
December 2001, a British newspaper reported over the weekend.

In France, officials are seeking a man with a bomb whose parts are small
enough to get past airport security, ABC News reported. The
Afghanistan-trained bomber was booked to fly from Paris to Los Angeles on
Christmas Eve, but didn't show at the airport when his Air France flight was
canceled, officials said.

Now French authorities are kicking themselves for canceling the flight too
soon - and they're afraid that terrorists plan to detonate his bomb on
another flight from elsewhere in Europe, the report said.

Five other Air France flights between Paris and the United States were also
canceled Christmas Eve.

"Earl Evleth" wrote in message
...
The stories goes along with the general feeling that the
next terrorist attack will not be with cutters but
a bomb. This will destroy those aboard but presumably
not cause ground damage.


Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 12:31:57 -0000, Miss L. Toe wrote:

"Earl Evleth" wrote in message
...
The stories goes along with the general feeling that the
next terrorist attack will not be with cutters but
a bomb. This will destroy those aboard but presumably
not cause ground damage.


Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?

Ot the WTC? Those planes didn't hit the ground either.
--
Tim.

If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would
be so simple that we couldn't.

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 13:02:59 -0000, Mark Hewitt wrote:

"Tim Challenger" "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote in message
s.com...
On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 12:31:57 -0000, Miss L. Toe wrote:

"Earl Evleth" wrote in message
...
The stories goes along with the general feeling that the
next terrorist attack will not be with cutters but
a bomb. This will destroy those aboard but presumably
not cause ground damage.


Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?

Ot the WTC? Those planes didn't hit the ground either.

Caused considerable "ground damage" tho. At least it looked considerable
when I last saw the results.

That was the point that Miss L. Toe and I were making. Refering to Earl's
post.:
"This will destroy those aboard but presumably not cause ground damage."

--
Tim.

If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would
be so simple that we couldn't.

"Tim Challenger" "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote in message
s.com...
On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 12:31:57 -0000, Miss L. Toe wrote:

"Earl Evleth" wrote in message
...
The stories goes along with the general feeling that the
next terrorist attack will not be with cutters but
a bomb. This will destroy those aboard but presumably
not cause ground damage.


Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?

Ot the WTC? Those planes didn't hit the ground either.

Caused considerable "ground damage" tho. At least it looked considerable
when I last saw the results.

On 7/01/04 13:31, in article ,
"Miss L. Toe" wrote:

Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?


I have mentioned Lockerbie in previous posts so you have misunderstood my
reference. I have expressed worry that the next Al Qaeda attack will be
of the Lockerbie type. What I discount now is a plane takeovers of the 9/11
type in which the people aboard are not important, the crash target is.

Earl

On 7/01/04 13:51, in article
, "Tim Challenger"
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:

This will destroy those aboard but presumably
not cause ground damage.


Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?

Ot the WTC? Those planes didn't hit the ground either.

My defenition of ground damage is a ground target which
is more important than the plane hijacking itself, or
the people aboard.

earl

"Earl Evleth" wrote in message
...
On 7/01/04 13:31, in article ,
"Miss L. Toe" wrote:

Have you forgotten Lockerbie already ?


I have mentioned Lockerbie in previous posts so you have misunderstood my
reference. I have expressed worry that the next Al Qaeda attack will be
of the Lockerbie type. What I discount now is a plane takeovers of the
9/11
type in which the people aboard are not important, the crash target is.


I pretty much discounted another attack attempt like that after the
passengers fought back - and even further discounted it after the locked
flight deck doors.

I cant imagine any hijack attempt now where the passengers just sit back and
let it happen (i certainly wouldn't) - which begs the question of how the
air marshall will know which are the hijackers and which are the passengers.

On 7/01/04 14:00, in article
, "Tim Challenger"
"timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:


"This will destroy those aboard but presumably not cause ground damage."


The news reports are now starting to fill out the items a little more but
obviously does not clarify some important points.

With regard to the London reports, the rumored possible use of two persons
having US passports and not looking like Middle Easterners has a ring of
credibility. Nobody suggested they "missed" a flight, however.

Although it could happen one would expect the next round of terrorist
attacks on airplanes would not involve terrorists using their real
names, being easily traceable in that fashion. They would use
other names and have the documents which support that use. Next,
having US passports or EU passports avoids the problem of obtaining
visas. Obtaining a visa allows a longer period of determining
of the person should be given one in order to travel to the US.

For instance would a suspect have a visa to enter the US be a Tunisian,
having pilot training and reported to be connected to Al Aqaeda! It is more
like to be some EU person with an EU passport
with a totally different name.

So the terrorist candidates suggested for the Air France flight 068
seem less well hidden, just the opposite of those suggested
possible for a London Flight.

Liberation's just release article is posted below.

It raises the following points (which may not be true)

1) one suspect, voyageant avec un passeport français,

So a single suspect has a French passport. Expected.

2) However, the nationality of the individual is not clear ----

"d'un Afghan dénommé Abdou Haï" on the American but not the
French lists."

but

l'AFP évoquait un Tunisien du nom, phonétique, de Abdoulaye.

Same name, put together differently and maybe Tunisien!!

So far aspects of the story so far remain ³flou²
Why would one set of terrorists (London) use good disguises
(US passports) and the other one be so obvious? (Paris).
Where are the missing London suspects? Or is this
just a suggested possibility?

At this point we can only wait to see what the truth is.

Earl


*****

Paris à la recherche d'un complice éventuel d'Al-Qaeda

La direction de la surveillance du territoire recherche, à la demande des
autorités américaines, un homme soupçonné par Washington d'avoir des liens
avec Al-Qaeda € Cet homme aurait été porteur d'une mini bombe et aurait eu
un billet sur le vol Paris-Los Angeles annulé la veille de Noël.


«Je vous confirme qu'on cherche quelqu'un. Je ne peux pas vous en dire
d'avantage», s'est contenté de lâcher le garde des Sceaux, Dominique Perben,
mercredi sur RMC info. La déclaration a beau être lapidaire, elle confirme,
au moins en partie, les informations de la chaîne américaine ABC selon
lesquelles les polices européennes sont à la recherche d'un homme suspecté
de liens avec Al-Qaeda. Il serait, selon la chaîne, porteur d'une mini bombe
et aurait dû embarquer sur un vol Air France pour les Etats-Unis à la veille
de Noël.

La chaîne qui cite des responsables américains et français non identifiés
indique que le suspect, voyageant avec un passeport français, avait un
billet pour prendre le vol Air France 68 reliant, le 24 décembre, Paris à
Los Angeles, mais qu'il ne s'est pas présenté à l'embarquement. Un vol qui a
justement été le premier des sept vols à destination des Etats-Unis à être
annulé entre le 24 et le 26 décembre. Aucune enquête judiciaire formelle n'a
été ouverte pour l'instant à Paris

Toujours d'après ABC, l'homme aurait eu un entraînement terroriste en
Afghanistan mais les informations relatives à sa nationalité diffèrent.
Selon une source judiciaire, la Direction de la surveillance du territoire
(DST) serait sur la piste d'un Afghan dénommé Abdou Haï, fiché comme
terroriste aux Etats-Unis. Un nom qui n'apparaît cependant pas dans les
fichiers des services de renseignement français. Plus tôt dans la matinée,
une source proche du dossier citée par l'AFP évoquait un Tunisien du nom,
phonétique, de Abdoulaye.

Si ABC reste flou sur la nature de la mini bombe qui serait en sa
possession, le Washington Post affirme, sans faire de lien avec le suspect
recherché, que les autorités américaines craignaient une attaque terroriste
à la bombe «sale» durant la période des fêtes. Alors que le niveau d'alerte
terroriste a été relevé à son deuxième plus haut niveau, des équipes de
spécialistes en détection de radiations auraient ainsi été dépêchées dans
cinq grandes villes américaines, raconte le quotidien. Les spécialistes du
département de l'Energie opéraient incognito avec leur matériel dissimulé
dans des bagages et autres sacs de golf. Selon le journal, qui précise
qu'aucune source radioactive n'a été détectée à l'exception d'une capsule de
radium utilisée pour un traitement anticancéreux, l'alerte était davantage
basée sur une crainte que le réseau Al-Qaeda ne cherche à profiter de la
période de fêtes pour mener une attaque que sur des informations précises.

At this point we can only wait to see what the truth is.

Earl


Do you really think we are ever going to find out ?