Whereabouts Unknown: Terror Suspect Failed to Show for Christmas Eve Flight

abc ^ | 1/6/04

[knak]

Jan. 6— Authorities across Europe are searching for a passenger suspected of having links to al Qaeda who failed to show up for an Air France flight on Christmas Eve, ABCNEWS has learned.

U.S. law enforcement officials believe the male passenger 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 trans-Atlantic flights, officials said.

French officials told ABCNEWS the man is feared to have a small bomb whose components might get past airport security.

The man had a ticket for Air France's Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles on Dec. 24, but the flight was canceled and the passenger never showed up at the airport, U.S. and French officials told ABCNEWS.

The man is being sought across Europe. Former French defense official Alexis Debat says the French fear they canceled the flight too soon, tipping him off.

"Nobody knows where he is and that is a big concern throughout Europe," said Debat, an ABCNEWS consultant. "The French are concerned that they may have dropped the ball."

The man's identity and description have been passed on to security officials in London, adding to other potential threats being dealt with there.

"This person will also have several other pieces or documents, aliases, several passports," Debat said.

As part of the search for the one suspect, French officials today carried out two raids today near the city of Lyon and in a small town north of Paris, based in part on U.S. intelligence information.

"You have to hit at the head, which is the logistical network that enables the person to travel back and forth," said Debat.

As well as the Air France flights, several other U.S.-bound flights were canceled or delayed over the holidays, including British Airways flights from London to Washington.

[swarthyguy]

Maybe he went to Sharm el Sheikh for some sun instead.

[maestro]

Only 5,000.....?

:-(

[Shermy]

Note the references to chemical weapons too. And one of the Imams was also a pharmacist...

[Peach]

Sh!t.

You know, in the book The New Jackals, Ramzi Yousef was described by the FBI as the most experienced explosions expert they had ever investigated, and he trained thousands of terrorists.

He could take down an airplane using chemicals in a contact lens case and a wristwatch.

[Shermy]

Maybe he went to Sharm el Sheikh for some sun instead.

Interesting...very interesting...and the French say they can't recover the black box...

[hoosiermama]

Former French defense official Alexis Debat says the French fear they canceled the flight too soon, tipping him off.

WELL DUH!

[Dog]

This passage worries me...

French officials told ABCNEWS the man is feared to have a small bomb whose components might get past airport security.

What kind of bomb can get by.

[cardinal4]

Did he fail to show because the French tipped him, with their announcement?

[OXENinFLA]

"The French are concerned that they may have dropped the ball."

My vote for understatement of the week.

[oceanview]

its either the contact lens kit, his toiletries, or a body cavity bomb. then again, if he is boarding in france, maybe its C4 shaped into a brie cheese.

but in any case, as many of us were saying that night while the incidents were going on, wouldn't it have been best to allow the planes to board and then cancel the flights with everyone inside so they could be searched?

[Dog]

We dodged a huge bullet on Christmas Eve it seems..

[Paladin2]

The headline should read more like:

"An Islamic cleric whose son is being held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba"

[Peach]

See my #24; it gets put together in the bathroom.

Yousef had people who took down a plane in the 90's doing this.

[maestro]

What kind of bomb can get by.

?.......one that uses 'something' already standard equipment on/in the plane?

?....fuel cells...?

?....gases...both liquid and vapor?

[okie01]

"Has anyone checked BBC to see if there's a picture out there somewhere?"

The guy's a dead ringer for Howard Dean...in a keffiyeh.

[CyberAnt]

"The French are concerned that they may have dropped the ball"

NO DUH!!

[CyberAnt]

I still think they did it to embarrass the USA !!

[meyer]

Yep - the plane comes equipped with its own explosives in the form of fuel. Perhaps not the most efficient bomb, but sufficient to remove the plane from the sky or to cause significant damage upon contact with its target.

I'm surprised that France would even admit that they "dropped the ball" - they are usually too smug to admit anything.

[nevergore]

10 oz. of Semtex can easily be formed into a shape that can inserted into a body cavity...unpleasant but would work....Undetectable without a cavity search or X-Ray..

Of course the terrorist better plan on taking two magzines into the john for that one....

A detonator and a way to trigger the detonator is all they need at that point. A detonator could be hidden in anything and the method to trigger it bepends on the type but either a fuse or a electric spark...

Bombs aren't complicated inh their most basic form.

NeverGore

[Becki]

The man is being sought across Europe. Former French defense official Alexis Debat says the French fear they canceled the flight too soon, tipping him off.

Fuh-F'ing-Duh!

Bloomin' Frenchies!

Becki