Posted on 03/31/2002 9:33:53 AM PST by knighthawk
WASHINGTON: British shoebomber suspect Richard Reid, who was overpowered when trying to blow up a plane from Paris, may have undertaken his last mission on instructions from someone in Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to French investigators.
Reid, a convert to Islam, had taken "training classes" in Pakistan sometime in 1999. It is unclear how long he remained in Pakistan but he was back in London last July, media reports quoted the French investigators as saying.
Reid then went to Amsterdam and applied for a new passport at the British Embassy there, declaring that he had accidentally put his previous passport through a washing machine.
He was quickly given a new one, without any of the suspicious entry visas that had been stamped in his old passport. He then went to Israel as a tourist. Last December Reid was in Paris.
Reid probably stayed in a safe house because there is no sign of him in hotel records. It is known, however, that he came to Happy Call, a cafe with a bank of computers in a working class immigrant district in the north of Paris, on a narrow street crammed between Indian and Senegalese restaurants, hair-weaving shops and stores selling African artifacts, the report said.
The manager, a Sri Lankan named Ravi, told the Washington Post that he did remember a man who spent most of the day at Happy Call on December 20.
"He was big," Ravi recalled, identifying the man as Reid, who is six feet four inches. "And a little bit dirty."
Reid stayed on the computer for about an hour in the morning and returned for another four-hour e-mailing session in the evening. Investigators say he was exchanging e-mail with someone in Peshawar.
At midnight, he was told he had to leave because the shop was closing. The next day, Reid tried to board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami.
His unkempt appearance, as well as the fact that he had no bags, raised enough concern among authorities who decided to subject Reid to intensive questioning, forcing him to miss his flight.
Security officials eventually concluded it was safe to let him fly, and he was put up at an airport hotel overnight. French officials say that while at the hotel, Reid used another e-mail service to contact Pakistan and received instructions to continue with his mission. In one of those exchanges, leaked to the French media by investigators, Reid seemed unsure what to do after missing his flight.
The reports say the handler in Pakistan messaged back that Reid should try again. The next day he returned to the airport and was allowed to board. The same security officials recognised him, and this time they let him right through.
Once on board, according to a US indictment, Reid tried to light a fuse attached to one of his shoes, which were packed with enough explosivs to blow a hole in the Boeing 767.
Passengers and crew jumped on him and held him down until the plane made the emergency landing in Boston, where he was arrested.
An international investigation quickly began. But so far, says the Post, Richard Reid's story has as many holes in it as those of the September 11 hijackers.
In an interview, the manager, a Sri Lankan who gave his name only as Ravi, said he barely remembers most customers who pass through, either to make long-distance calls from the telephone booths or to send e-mail messages home. But he said he did remember a man who spent most of the day at Happy Call on Dec. 20."He was big," Ravi recalled, identifying the man as Reid, who is 6 foot 4. "And a little bit dirty." Reid stayed on the computer for about an hour in the morning, and returned for another four-hour e-mailing session in the evening. Investigators say he was exchanging e-mail with someone in Peshawar, Pakistan, close to the border with Afghanistan. At midnight he was told he had to leave because the shop was closing.
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