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US probes test run for terror attack
Source: Agencies |
September 1, 2010, Wednesday
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TWO men arrested in Amsterdam may have been conducting a dry run for a potential terrorist attack, US officials said yesterday after a cell phone taped to a bottle of medicine and a knife and box cutters were found in one of the men's luggage.
United States investigators are pursuing leads in three American cities, according to officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
The arrests come at a time of heightened alert just days before the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US.
On Sunday, authorities found the suspicious items - a cell phone taped to a medicine bottle, multiple cell phones and watches taped together, and a knife and box cutter - in one of the men's checked luggage. The man and his luggage were headed to separate international destinations, which also raised concerns.
None of the items found on the men or in their luggage violated US security rules. But the items and the men's changing travel itinerary may have been a deliberate test of the US aviation security system to determine what would raise red flags.
Neither man was on any US terror watch lists, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told CNN yesterday.
A US law enforcement official identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezam al-Murisi. Al-Soofi is of Yemeni descent, one of the officials said.
The pair was arrested on Monday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago.
RTL Television News broadcast video footage filmed on a passenger's cell phone of armed law enforcement officers escorting two men off the plane, their hands bound behind their backs.
They were being held at the airport for questioning, but neither has been charged with any offense in the Netherlands, said Martijn Boelhouwer, spokesman for the national prosecutor's office. Under Dutch law, the men can be held without charges for up to six days. No charges have been filed against the men in the US, a law enforcement official said.
Al-Soofi was questioned as he went through security in Birmingham, Alabama, on his way to Chicago, one of the officials said. He told the Transportation Security Administration authorities he was carrying a lot of cash. Screeners found US$7,000 on him, but he was not breaking any law by carrying that much money.
Al-Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and then on to Dubai, one of the officials said. But when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, while his luggage went on to Virginia.
On international flights, passengers and their luggage must be headed toward the same destination, according to US policy.
Al-Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among US officials. Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday night's flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.
Alabama's director of homeland security, Jim Walker, said al-Soofi was living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and working at a convenience store for about the last three months.
United States investigators are pursuing leads in three American cities, according to officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
The arrests come at a time of heightened alert just days before the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US.
On Sunday, authorities found the suspicious items - a cell phone taped to a medicine bottle, multiple cell phones and watches taped together, and a knife and box cutter - in one of the men's checked luggage. The man and his luggage were headed to separate international destinations, which also raised concerns.
None of the items found on the men or in their luggage violated US security rules. But the items and the men's changing travel itinerary may have been a deliberate test of the US aviation security system to determine what would raise red flags.
Neither man was on any US terror watch lists, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told CNN yesterday.
A US law enforcement official identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezam al-Murisi. Al-Soofi is of Yemeni descent, one of the officials said.
The pair was arrested on Monday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago.
RTL Television News broadcast video footage filmed on a passenger's cell phone of armed law enforcement officers escorting two men off the plane, their hands bound behind their backs.
They were being held at the airport for questioning, but neither has been charged with any offense in the Netherlands, said Martijn Boelhouwer, spokesman for the national prosecutor's office. Under Dutch law, the men can be held without charges for up to six days. No charges have been filed against the men in the US, a law enforcement official said.
Al-Soofi was questioned as he went through security in Birmingham, Alabama, on his way to Chicago, one of the officials said. He told the Transportation Security Administration authorities he was carrying a lot of cash. Screeners found US$7,000 on him, but he was not breaking any law by carrying that much money.
Al-Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and then on to Dubai, one of the officials said. But when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, while his luggage went on to Virginia.
On international flights, passengers and their luggage must be headed toward the same destination, according to US policy.
Al-Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among US officials. Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday night's flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.
Alabama's director of homeland security, Jim Walker, said al-Soofi was living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and working at a convenience store for about the last three months.
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