Regards, Ivan
Posted on 09/30/2002 6:55:28 AM PDT by MadIvan
The Swedish authorities have released from custody a man held on suspicion of trying to hijack a plane bound for Britain.
And likely to hit the US Embassy in London, I might add - Ivan
Kerim Sadok Chatty, 29, was arrested a month ago at a Swedish airport after a gun was found in his hand luggage.
But the authorities say suspicions that he was planning a hijack have weakened since then.
Despite his release, prosecutors say investigations into the incident will continue.
They have imposed a travel ban on Mr Chatty, and ordered him to report to police regularly.
Fears
Mr Chatty - a Swedish national of Tunisian origin - was trying to board a Ryanair flight to Stansted Airport, north of London.
His arrest raised fears of further suicide attacks, as it came almost two weeks before the first anniversary of 11 September attacks on the United States.
But Chief prosecutor Thomas Haeggstroem said in a statement on Monday that the hijacking case had weakened in recent days.
"Nothing in the investigation indicates that Chatty would have intended to crash the plane against any target in Sweden or in any other country," the statement added.
Yes we all know how hijackers put all their plans in writing before acting on them - Ivan
Mr Chatty has said he has no connection with Islamic militants.
Suspicions against him increased after it was revealed that in 1996 he had briefly received training at a flying school in the United States - like some of the 11 September hijackers.
Following his arrest a court twice ordered that Mr Chatty should be detained for periods of two weeks, pending further investigations.
The second detention period ended on Monday.
Mr Chatty has admitted to having the gun, but denies having planned a hijack.
Regards, Ivan
Mon Sep 30, 7:20 AM ET
By Peter Starck
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish man arrested last month when he tried to board a London-bound Ryanair plane with a loaded gun in his hand luggage was released on Monday for lack of evidence.
But Sweden's chief prosecutor said the decision to release Kerim Sadok Chatty did not mean the suspicion of a planned hijacking has been written off.
"The investigation of that suspicion continues," prosecutor Thomas Haggstrom said in a statement.
Chatty, a 29-year-old Muslim of Tunisian origin, was set free at 10:00 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT). He has admitted to having the gun, but denies having planned a hijack.
On Monday, Haggstrom said there was "reasonable cause" for suspicion of a planned hijack. Previously the level of suspicion was classed as "probable cause," and the development prompted Chatty's lawyer Nils Uggla to say the prosecutor should drop the case.
"The fact that the degree of suspicion has been lowered shows that we have been right all the time," Uggla told Reuters.
Haggstrom also said: "Nothing in the investigation indicates that Chatty would have intended to crash the plane against any target in Sweden or in any other country."
Coming two weeks before the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, the incident at Vasteras airport 100 km (60 miles) west of Stockholm became particularly sensitive when it emerged that Chatty had taken flying lessons in the United States.
Several of the hijackers suspected of carrying out the September 11 attacks learned to fly at U.S. aviation schools.
COPYCAT ATTACK?
Intelligence sources said initially they believed the suspect was planning to hijack a plane and crash it into a U.S. embassy in Europe in a copycat strike of the attacks on New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
The picture has changed. We have not been able to compile the evidence we thought we would in the beginning," a source at Sweden's security police Sapo told Reuters on Monday.
Chatty, who has previous convictions for theft, assault and petty offences -- including an attack on a U.S. embassy marine guard in a gym in 1999 -- discovered religion in recent years and studied Islam, visiting Saudi Arabia.
Uggla urged prosecutors to drop the case.
"If the prosecutor, with the help of all of Sapo's resources, has not found anything more in a whole month, then they should drop the whole case," he said. Uggla told Britain's Sky television by telephone he was sure that the case would not end up in a trial about hijacking.
"It will end up in a trial about this illegal gun," he said. "The reason why he had this gun in his luggage I'm not allowed to tell you about."
The investigation has been classified as secret.
A district court had ordered Chatty detained twice for periods of two weeks, pending further investigations and formal charges. The second detention period ended on September 30 and the court had said Haggstrom must lay charges by then.
I think you're thinking of something else. This was the attempt to hijack a Ryanair flight from Sweden to London; the US Embassy in London was the likely target.
Regards, Ivan
More frightening is the thought that 6 months from now we'll find out the US gives him a "student visa"....
Except that he was headed to the Finsbury Park Mosque for the 9/11 celebrations with a bunch of his Sufi buddies with a gun.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.