Posted on 08/30/2002 9:24:15 AM PDT by MadIvan
An Arab man accused of trying to hijack a Londonbound plane with 189 people on board has links with supporters of Osama bin Laden, it emerged today.
The 29-year-old Tunisian-born man is being questioned by Swedish police after he was caught with a loaded pistol in his hand luggage as he tried to board a Ryanair flight from Stockholm Vasteras airport to Stansted.
He was one of a 20-strong party on their way to an Islamic festival in Birmingham for followers of Salafi - a fundamentalist sect whose teachings are popular with Bin Laden's terror group al Qaeda.
All the al Qaeda suspects held in Europe last year were Salafi followers. Shoebomber Richard Reid, the Brixton man who attempted to blow up a Boston-bound airliner, was also a follower.
British security experts today flew out to Sweden to help question the latest suspect. American John Walker Lindh, who was caught fighting with the Taliban after converting to Islam, is known to have studied Salafi.
Scotland Yard said anti-terrorist and Special Branch detectives were liaising closely with Swedish police and forces in Essex and the West Midlands.
The loaded gun was found in a washbag in the hand luggage of the man as he passed through a checkpoint to board Flight FR685 to Stansted.
People on board the Boeing 737-800 told today how heavily-armed police suddenly surrounded the group, who were dressed in traditional Arab clothing, and handcuffed them at gunpoint.
Passenger Elin Dermeborg, 27, a Swedish social worker visiting a friend in the UK, said: "We all got on the plane, then the crew came around and said 'We have got a group of people on the flight we don't feel secure with'.
"There was a group of about 20 Somalians, some were wearing Muslim clothing, and they said they were on their way to an Islamic meeting in the UK.
"Everyone had to get off the plane and one of the Somalians, a guy wearing a red T-shirt, was arrested by the police. They handcuffed him and took him away.
"We were told by the airport staff he was trying to get a gun on the plane. Everyone was very calm, no one panicked."
Police drove the men away from the airport in coaches. Some were made to kneel with their hands behind their heads as officers stood over them. The handgun was detected by a security scanner.
The remaining passengers were taken off the plane and photographed by security men. The plane was delayed for more than six hours.
The latest incident comes as a draft report prepared by UN experts warned the world that Bin Laden's al Qaeda network is "alive and well".
Security sources in London said: " There are already widespread fears that supporters of Bin Laden may try to commit a new atrocity to coincide with the anniversary of 11 September. This incident has illustrated the need for constant vigilance and as a result our state of alert has been heightened even further."
Chief Inspector Anders Freyksell of Vasteras police said: "The gun was a small pistol loaded with three or four bullets."
Police spokesman Ulf Palm added: "We believe he was going to hijack the plane." Mr Palm said the man was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm. The suspect was said today to have a criminal record in Sweden for violence and theft.
The man is a Swedish national but was originally from Tunisia. Some of the Arab group had already boarded the plane yesterday afternoon when the weapon was found.
When questioned the suspect told them he did not know anything about the gun in his bag. The man told Swedish police he was on his way to the conference in Birmingham.
The conference - which attracts up to 3,000 Muslims from across Europe - is organised by Salafi.com, an Islamic online book shop. One of the key aims of the conference is to try to dispel the notion of links between Islam and terrorism.
They regard us as weak, decadent, spoilt by a liberal culture - and in some senses they are right. But we are stronger than they. Our ideas do not lead to subservience to the will of a mullah. Our ideas lead to the freedom of the individual, a freedom which will always be more powerful than any of the hateful, soul-denying ideologies we have faced in the past: Nazism, Communism and now Islam.
But let's not deny it, we are still at war, and will be for some time.
Regards, Ivan
Best Regards, Ivan
This would be a good time to throw the bastard who tried this in with some of the lads from the Yard - I am sure given suitable methods of persuasion he'll be singing like a bloody canary about his other Al Qaeda friends.
Regards, Ivan
reported that after questioning, free to travel, etc.....
Ivan any idea what the target could have been in your country???
Mental giant, he is not.
Regards, Ivan
Grampa, just as there are some people in Berkeley who will never wake up, people who read the Guardian here will never wake up either. The true underclass in both America and Britain is the pathetically idiotic Left. ;)
Regards, Ivan
Whoopsie! Er, (cough, cough) we swear by the prophet's camel, we didn't know anyone from Sweden was coming. (damned fool got caught!)
I'll just bet the all 3,000 of those miserable buggers are going to be thoroughly photographed, I.D.ed, etc. What a wonderful opportunity to get so many of them together.
It could have been anywhere in London. I have heard that Al Qaeda wanted to hit Big Ben. If you think you've seen me angry on here before, if that turns out to be the case, you "ain't seen nothin yet".
These people are asking for war with the wrong people.
Regards, Ivan
So long as their orders are shoot to kill, fine.
Regards, Ivan
If we're still dithering in the U.S. about allowing airline pilots to pack heat we've only ourselves to blame if one of these guys pulls that here.
If they hit Big Ben, I am sure that would be the final straw for a lot of people who are less sweet tempered than I.
Regards, Ivan
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