Free Republic

Amsterdam, Aug. 23 (AP): Dutch police arrested 12 passengers who aroused the crew's suspicion on a U.S. airline flight to India after it returned on Wednesday to Amsterdam escorted by two F-16 jet fighters, a spokesman said. Police spokesman Rob Staenacker said he could not disclose the nationalities of the people taken from the Northwest DC-10 after it was diverted over German airspace, or the nature of the suspicions against them. ``I can tell you 12 people have been arrested,'' he said. It was not immediately clear if they had been charged. An American passenger, who identified herself only as...

A Minnesota man who was on the Northwest Airlines flight diverted to Amsterdam Wednesday after air marshals grew suspicious of passengers had prior experience with terrorist plots. Tim Nelson, the flight instructor who first told FBI officials about Al-Qaida operative Zacarias Moussaoui’s presence and behavior at an Eagan flight school in August, 2001, was on the Northwest flight, according to his wife, Jodie. Nelson’s call helped authorities arrest Moussaoui that same August, but the investigation that followed failed to thwart the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Regarding Wednesday’s incident, Mrs. Nelson said her husband specifically noted the crew and air marshals’...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police arrested 12 passengers on a U.S. Northwest Airlines plane bound for India which was forced to turn back to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday, news agency ANP reported. ANP quoted a police spokesman as saying 12 were arrested, but declined to give further details due to the ongoing investigation. Police officials were not immediately available to comment. The Dutch Defense Ministry said earlier the pilot decided to turn back after the crew said several of the 149 passengers on flight 42 to Mumbai were behaving suspiciously. Security has been increased at airports worldwide in the...