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Flight 253 passenger: Sharp-dressed man aided terror suspect (MI)
MLive ^ | December 26, 2009, 2:22PM | Sheena Harrison

Posted on 12/27/2009 7:19:25 AM PST by Kieri

A Michigan man who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 says he witnessed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab trying to board the plane in Amsterdam without a passport.

Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., who posted an earlier comment about his experience, talked exclusively with MLive.com and confirmed he was on the flight by sending a picture of his boarding pass. He and his wife, Lori, were returning from a safari in Uganda when they boarded the NWA flight on Friday.

Haskell said he and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they saw Mutallab approach the gate with an unidentified man.

Kurt and Lori Haskell are attorneys with Haskell Law Firm in Taylor. Their expertise includes bankruptcy, family law and estate planning.

While Mutallab was poorly dressed, his friend was dressed in an expensive suit, Haskell said. He says the suited man asked ticket agents whether Mutallab could board without a passport. “The guy said, 'He's from Sudan and we do this all the time.'”

Mutallab is Nigerian. Haskell believes the man may have been trying to garner sympathy for Mutallab's lack of documents by portraying him as a Sudanese refugee.

The ticket agent referred Mutallab and his companion to her manager down the hall, and Haskell didn't see Mutallab again until after he allegedly tried to detonate an explosive on the plane.

Haskell said the flight was mostly unremarkable. That was until he heard a flight attendant say she smelled smoke, just after the pilot announced the plane would land in Detroit in 10 minutes. Haskell got out of his seat to view the brewing commotion.

“I stood up and walked a couple feet ahead to get a closer look, and that's when I saw the flames,” said Haskell, who sat about seven rows behind Mutallab. “It started to spread pretty quickly. It went up the wall, all the way to ceiling.”

Haskell, who described Mutallab as a diminutive man who looks like a teenager, said about 30 seconds passed between the first mention of smoke and when Mutallab was subdued by fellow passengers.

“He didn't fight back at all. This wasn't a big skirmish,” Haskell said. “A couple guys jumped on him and hauled him away.”

The ordeal has Haskell and his wife a little shaken. Flight attendants were screaming during the fire and the pilot sounded notably nervous when bringing the plane in for a landing, he said.

“Immediately, the pilot came on and said two words: emergency landing,” Haskell said. “And that was it. The plane sped up instead of slowing down. You could tell he floored it.”

As Mutallab was being led out of the plane in handcuffs, Haskell said he realized that was the same man he saw trying to board the plane in Amsterdam.

Passengers had to wait about 20 minutes before they were allowed to exit the plane. Haskell said he and other passengers waited about six hours to be interviewed by the FBI.

About an hour after landing, Haskell said he saw another man being taken into custody. But a spokeswoman from the FBI in Detroit said Mutallab was the only person taken into custody.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Michigan; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqueda; detroit; flight253; mutallab; terrorism
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To: COUNTrecount
"...Someone needs to start a thread containing all the information about this terrorist attack that is not being reported by the propaganda-press so that when it disappears we will still have it..."

Thread discussing binary explosives has a good stash. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415490/posts

61 posted on 12/27/2009 10:06:14 AM PST by amom
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To: potlatch

.

Re-Bump!

Hussy Junior had to decide:

Golf or Terrorism?

Decisions Decisions!


62 posted on 12/27/2009 10:06:26 AM PST by devolve ( . . . . . . . . . woodpile alert - "My muslim faith....." - "Kobe" Osama . . . . . . . . . . . .)
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To: Kieri

“You could tell he floored it.”

Took my foot off the gas and man alive
I shoved it on down into overdrive
- Commander Cody, Hot Rod Lincoln


63 posted on 12/27/2009 10:09:27 AM PST by PLMerite (Ride to the sound of the Guns - I'll probably need help.)
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To: amom

Thanks!


64 posted on 12/27/2009 10:31:23 AM PST by COUNTrecount (Barry...above his poi grade.)
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To: Kieri

surely the security cameras at the airport will have a vid of this sharply dressed man...no???


65 posted on 12/27/2009 10:31:55 AM PST by Chickensoup (We have the government we deserve.)
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To: Chickensoup

They’ve probably managed to ‘lose’ them by now.

This is bigger than one or two people. Maybe not huge, but not a small attack force.


66 posted on 12/27/2009 10:51:53 AM PST by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: Slyfox
Is that a stick of dynamite in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
67 posted on 12/27/2009 12:11:22 PM PST by tophat9000 (Obama has "Jumped The Shark" ...and fell in the shark tank)
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To: bitt

Thank you bitt, this was new information to me!


68 posted on 12/27/2009 12:16:37 PM PST by potlatch (~~ COGITO ERGO SUM~~)
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To: Chickensoup
No, but we now have another witness! Long, excellent, report from guy in 38J at the HuffPo of all places , about the bomb and aftermath. He saw a man fitting the earlier description being taken away in handcuffs with his luggage left behind. He didn't mention the alleged incident in Amsterdam, but now with two independent reports reporting interest in this chap the press should start asking some questions regarding their "no one else involved" story line.
69 posted on 12/27/2009 4:01:19 PM PST by JohnBovenmyer
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To: Chickensoup

We could hope...

This story made Drudge. Maybe the MSM will pay attention now, but I’m not holding my breath.


70 posted on 12/27/2009 6:41:44 PM PST by Kieri (The Conservatrarian)
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To: bitt

Thanks for the ping!


71 posted on 12/27/2009 9:17:23 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Kieri; All

Haskell's boarding pass .

Lori and Kurt Haskell.

72 posted on 12/28/2009 1:29:43 AM PST by Las Vegas Dave (To anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a Liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Kieri
Obama just said "isolated extremist". However, some Indian guy was on 253. Haskill thought there was a bomb on board per what the FBI was hinting at. So, Obama's lying if he's stating there was one person if there was actually two.

Who's the Indian guy? Who's going to check that out or is that going to be erased away?

73 posted on 12/28/2009 12:28:22 PM PST by floriduh voter (Thanks, Dutch Guy. Apparently, you are U.S. Homeland Security.)
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To: RWGinger
FBI lying? "About an hour after landing, Haskell said he saw another man being taken into custody. But a spokeswoman from the FBI in Detroit said Mutallab was the only person taken into custody."

I believe Haskill over the feds.

74 posted on 12/28/2009 12:29:58 PM PST by floriduh voter (Thanks, Dutch Guy. Apparently, you are U.S. Homeland Security.)
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To: Kieri

Fox News just interviewed Haskill. I was listening so I don’t know if he was calling it in or they showed Haskill. Haskill believed there was man #2 and and other explosive device w/the Indian man.


75 posted on 12/28/2009 12:33:22 PM PST by floriduh voter (Thanks, Dutch Guy. Apparently, you are U.S. Homeland Security.)
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To: COUNTrecount

Drudge is covering this. Not sure the feds can control Drudge?


76 posted on 12/28/2009 12:34:40 PM PST by floriduh voter (Thanks, Dutch Guy. Apparently, you are U.S. Homeland Security.)
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To: JohnBovenmyer

Obama just said “isolated extremist” so he’s already lying in this regard. And, the admin won’t tell Peter King anything or Hoekstra. I wonder if Hoekstra’s hearings will be faux if the 2nd guy is deleted.


77 posted on 12/28/2009 12:39:53 PM PST by floriduh voter (Thanks, Dutch Guy. Apparently, you are U.S. Homeland Security.)
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To: Alamo-Girl

How ironic if someone tries something ends up being related to BHO? His dad had children on every continent. I’m serious.


78 posted on 12/28/2009 12:41:57 PM PST by floriduh voter (Thanks, Dutch Guy. Apparently, you are U.S. Homeland Security.)
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To: floriduh voter

Thanks. He may have already known about it but I sent him that site yesterday.


79 posted on 12/28/2009 12:46:22 PM PST by COUNTrecount (Barry...above his poi grade.)
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To: floriduh voter

Interesting’ and my first thought was the use of the word custody versus questioning
but this coming out in todays MSM shows the Indian was taken into custody.


80 posted on 12/28/2009 2:30:26 PM PST by RWGinger
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