MARSEILLE (Reuters) - A French newspaper reported on Saturday that investigators had found an e-mail message in which alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid wrote of plans to destroy an airliner.
La Provence, based in the southern city of Marseille, said investigators had tracked the e-mail thanks to a cybercafe address found on Reid. The 28-year-old Briton pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court on Friday to charges that he tried to blow up the Miami-bound plane he boarded in Paris last month.
The newspaper said in an unsourced story that Reid, alleged by U.S. officials to have trained with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda extremist network, described himself in the e-mail as a "martyr of the Islamic cause."
Reuters was unable to secure any independent comment on the report, which was released by the regional newspaper ahead of publication in its Saturday edition.
La Provence said investigators had also learned from the e-mail that Reid had asked the several addressees not to publicize it unless the plot was executed successfully.
Reid was overpowered by passengers and staff of American Airlines Flight 63 on December 22 after a flight attendant saw him apparently trying to set his shoes on fire.
The sports shoes were later found to contain enough explosives to do significant damage. The incident further worried people afraid to travel in the wake of the September 11 hijacked plane assaults that wiped out the New York World Trade Center killing some 3,000 people.
Reid appeared before a court in the U.S. city of Boston on Friday on nine charges ranging from attempted murder to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Asked to enter a plea, he replied: "Not guilty."
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