Iraqi national carrying suspicious object detained at LAX

Los Angeles Times (free registration required) ^ | March 6, 2007 | Andrew Blankstein

[Deo volente]

Authorities today detained an Iraqi national who was carrying a suspicious object at Los Angeles International's Terminal One.

Los Angeles airport police held the man in a passenger screening area after security agents discovered at 5:40 a.m. that he was carrying a metal object, officials said.

A preliminary investigation of the man's bags -- which were taken off a flight that was scheduled to go to Philadelphia but diverted to Las Vegas -- found nothing hazardous or dangerous, authorities said.

The man has been turned over to Immigration and Customs authorities for additional questioning, officials said at an afternoon news conference.

The man was identified as Fadhel Maliki, 35, of Atlantic City, N.J., an Iraqi national who has been in the United States since 1994, according to Ethel McGuire, the FBI assistant special agent assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Maliki was going through preflight screening when he was pulled aside after acting suspicious, officials said. He had been previously flagged based on a travel profile, but officials refused to discuss details.

According to Larry Satters, federal security director at LAX, Maliki was concealing objects connected to wires from his body.

[ApplegateRanch]

"Testing?"

Somehow, I have to believe that "probing" is the more appropriate term, rather than "testing".

These parts, plus hearing aid or cell phone batteries removed in-flight, plus one or two accomplices carrying the rest of the parts, combined with individual bathroom trips....

[Rushmore Rocks]

You're correct. "Probing" is more appropriate under the circumstances.

Sure wish we would get some moisture here in SoDak. Terribly dry here in the "Hills".

[ApplegateRanch]

Not EOD, nor did I even spend the night a Holiday Express, but my GUESS would be to anchor what ever it was to be a part of to something, out of sight.

Since most metal in an aircraft is aluminium, or other light wieght non-magnetic alloys, not steel, that might provide a clue as to where this was intended to be placed...to start looking for things in the future.

[Cindy]

Yep, interesting.

[ApplegateRanch]

Sure wish we would get some moisture here in SoDak. Terribly dry here in the "Hills".

You bet! Our white landscape is nearly all brown again. :(

Maybe we'll get a decently wet White Easter. The squeaky-dry snow just doesn't do much to help things.

[ArmstedFragg]

Remote control prostate masager?

[ArmstedFragg]

"so bizarre in his behavior."

Well, yeah. Wearing something like that, you'd be hopping around like a disco Romeo.

[CyberAnt]

Was this a "dry run" to see if they could put the devices in body cavities and get them past our equipment.

Apparently .. they will have to think of some other idea.

[brytlea]

I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what that is!
susie

[ArmstedFragg]

Actually, I'm kind of shocked that I DO know.

[Deo volente]

Here's a link to a video of the suspect. He doesn't look good at all.

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-suspiciouspkg,0,2079823.story?coll=ktla-home-1

I haven't been able to find a photo yet to post.

[Grizzled Bear]

Maybe he was just smugglin' diamonds!

---

He was smuggling a lump of coal. He has been under a lot of stress lately and, well, you know.

[InkYouBuss_007]

a small simple magnet can be used to activate a reed switch. They can be of the normally open or normally closed type...ie activate when the magnet is brought near or activate when the magnet is removed. Reed switches...a common very small silent componet even available in a plastic bubble pack at radio shack. Been used to activate bombs etc for years.

[ApplegateRanch]

Thank you.

[VaBthang4]

This guy and most terrorist do not probe.

They are either recon|setting up, testing or they are doing.

Probing is some half cocked nonsense we've made up.

[VaBthang4]

"These parts, plus hearing aid or cell phone batteries removed in-flight, plus one or two accomplices carrying the rest of the parts, combined with individual bathroom trips...."

None of that silliness is necessary.

Ramzi Youssef created a bomb that he alone could put together after boarding a plane [with the parts] a digital watch as a timer, diluted nitroglycerine in a contact lens cleaner's bottle. He boarded Phillipines Airline flight 434 and on the first leg of the flight, put the bomb together. He put it in the lifejacket pouch under his seat [26K] and then got off the aircraft.
After the aircrat takes off for it's second leg, the watch's alarm goes off, ignites a filament [of a small broken bulb] that he placed in the nitroglycerine. The very small, simple, compact bomb detonated and killed the man who took the same seat [on the second leg of the flight].

As a terrorist attack, it was a failure. Youssef's intent was to ignite the center fuel tank of the 747 and blow the whole thing [something that happened subsequently to TWA Flight 800 during Youssef's trial for the 1993 WTC attack...draw your own conclusions].

Below are the declassified FBI documents concerning this.

[muawiyah]

You can get 123,000 references at www.google.com simply by looking up rectum and magnet and sphincter.

There are a variety of medical treatments and examination methodologies that can and do take place in the rectum which involve the use of magnets.

In many cases a failing sphincter muscle's performance can be improved with a couple of magnets attached to a two-wire circuit. After you are "done" you plug the lead wire into a battery pack, or throw a switch (depending on how sophisticated the device is), and the magnets make sure the sphincter closes.

I think some of the characters referring to "probes" know all about this. We might collect their names and do a follow up survey and then publish a set of personal testimonials right here in FR.

Bet we'd hear some magnets clicking on that.

[muawiyah]

Medical device used to assist your sphincter muscle. Readily found on the internet.

[MortMan]

Regardless, he's gotta go.

What an unfortunate but funny turn of the phrase!!! ;-P