Posted on 08/30/2002 9:24:15 AM PDT by MadIvan
An Arab man accused of trying to hijack a Londonbound plane with 189 people on board has links with supporters of Osama bin Laden, it emerged today.
The 29-year-old Tunisian-born man is being questioned by Swedish police after he was caught with a loaded pistol in his hand luggage as he tried to board a Ryanair flight from Stockholm Vasteras airport to Stansted.
He was one of a 20-strong party on their way to an Islamic festival in Birmingham for followers of Salafi - a fundamentalist sect whose teachings are popular with Bin Laden's terror group al Qaeda.
All the al Qaeda suspects held in Europe last year were Salafi followers. Shoebomber Richard Reid, the Brixton man who attempted to blow up a Boston-bound airliner, was also a follower.
British security experts today flew out to Sweden to help question the latest suspect. American John Walker Lindh, who was caught fighting with the Taliban after converting to Islam, is known to have studied Salafi.
Scotland Yard said anti-terrorist and Special Branch detectives were liaising closely with Swedish police and forces in Essex and the West Midlands.
The loaded gun was found in a washbag in the hand luggage of the man as he passed through a checkpoint to board Flight FR685 to Stansted.
People on board the Boeing 737-800 told today how heavily-armed police suddenly surrounded the group, who were dressed in traditional Arab clothing, and handcuffed them at gunpoint.
Passenger Elin Dermeborg, 27, a Swedish social worker visiting a friend in the UK, said: "We all got on the plane, then the crew came around and said 'We have got a group of people on the flight we don't feel secure with'.
"There was a group of about 20 Somalians, some were wearing Muslim clothing, and they said they were on their way to an Islamic meeting in the UK.
"Everyone had to get off the plane and one of the Somalians, a guy wearing a red T-shirt, was arrested by the police. They handcuffed him and took him away.
"We were told by the airport staff he was trying to get a gun on the plane. Everyone was very calm, no one panicked."
Police drove the men away from the airport in coaches. Some were made to kneel with their hands behind their heads as officers stood over them. The handgun was detected by a security scanner.
The remaining passengers were taken off the plane and photographed by security men. The plane was delayed for more than six hours.
The latest incident comes as a draft report prepared by UN experts warned the world that Bin Laden's al Qaeda network is "alive and well".
Security sources in London said: " There are already widespread fears that supporters of Bin Laden may try to commit a new atrocity to coincide with the anniversary of 11 September. This incident has illustrated the need for constant vigilance and as a result our state of alert has been heightened even further."
Chief Inspector Anders Freyksell of Vasteras police said: "The gun was a small pistol loaded with three or four bullets."
Police spokesman Ulf Palm added: "We believe he was going to hijack the plane." Mr Palm said the man was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm. The suspect was said today to have a criminal record in Sweden for violence and theft.
The man is a Swedish national but was originally from Tunisia. Some of the Arab group had already boarded the plane yesterday afternoon when the weapon was found.
When questioned the suspect told them he did not know anything about the gun in his bag. The man told Swedish police he was on his way to the conference in Birmingham.
The conference - which attracts up to 3,000 Muslims from across Europe - is organised by Salafi.com, an Islamic online book shop. One of the key aims of the conference is to try to dispel the notion of links between Islam and terrorism.
Islam Q&A:
We are so thankful that you trust our wisdom, and only hope that we can lead you on the righteous path of Islam. We commend you for your most intelligent question.
The salafis claim to be the followers of the Salf. In their definition of the Salf, they quif rightly include the Fuqaha and the Ulama of Quroon-e-Thalaathah (the first three glorious epochs of Islam) - the age of Sahaba, Tabi'een, and Tab-a-Tabi'een. The Aima mujtahideen which include the four illustrious Imams of the Four Mathhabs of the Ahl as-Sunnah Wal-Jama'ah are all part of the Salf.
Dear brother, you must not forget the Fuqaha (sp?), in particular.
Almighty Allah knows best. (LOL!)
Islam by any other name. Isn't it funny how back in '90-'91, Wahhabii wasn't mentioned.
Was it a recipe from the annual Terlingua, Texas chili cook-off? The next competion will be the first weekend in November. Who needs Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, or bio-warfare we've got the ultimate weapon!
ROFLOL...good thing you didn't put "mutha" in front of that "Faqaha", or you probably would have been banned.......AHHHH.....sometimes it's worth it when Hubby doesn't feel good and goes to bed early....FR on weekends is WAAAAAAY better than TV!
Heck, Wahhabiism disappeared off the socioanthropological radar around WWII....maybe WWI....except for a few, and I mean VERY few historians and those obsessed with Arab culture. Few people have ever really known what Wahhabiism is. No, I don't blame the first President Bush for not fully understanding the danger of militant Islam...he did have an inkling of a single cause which bound the terrorists together, and tried very hard to figure it out...he just did not have the people to give him the information he needed in order to figure out what was not RIGHT about it.
The present President Bush has a few...which is way more than his father did.
His sick, slimy interference....after ALL the damage he did, all the innocent BLOOD (that includes the blood of our own soldiers) on his hands....really, REALLY GALLS me. There isn't a strong enough word in the English language to describe how MAD it makes me.
Well....must be good chile then <G>
100% correct. The question then becomes: what sort of back room deals is Bubba making with them in exchange for campaign donations, and whom are the ARABS backing with billions to rule the US? Hillary, perhaps? Daschle? McCain?
As far as Iraq's illicit oil for $$$ deals throughout the sanction period, we have some idea of the which businesses, in which countries, were doing business with Saddam....WHILE fifty-zillion Iraqi children were starving "due to US sanctions"....but for the sake of international alliance, those countries shall remain unnamed ;- )
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