Hunt targets Afghan suspect

09.01.2004


PARIS - A hunt for a man who failed to turn up for a Paris-Los Angeles flight is focusing on an Afghan suspected of having passed through al Qaeda training camps.

The man has triggered the deep American fears which have disrupted transatlantic travel in the past two weeks.

French officials said anti-terrorism police were searching for a man called Abdoulaye, who failed to turn up for the Air France flight to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. The United States Government believes he may be a man called Abdou Hai, an Afghan al Qaeda suspect.

The US television network ABC reported that US officials fear the man may be travelling with a miniature bomb, capable of evading airport detection systems.

The network also said that French police, searching for the man, had made raids on houses in Lyon and north of Paris, acting on US information.

The CNN network, meanwhile, claimed that US officials believe the missing passenger may be a trained pilot.

French officials would not confirm the information about the bomb or the police raids yesterday.

But the French Justice Minister, Dominique Perben, asked about the ABC report, said: "I can tell you that we are looking for someone but nothing more at this stage."

Three Air France flights to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were cancelled when the US warned France it had spotted suspect names on the passenger lists.

Previously, both French and American officials have said the warning was a false alarm and that all the passengers had been checked out and proved harmless.

It now appears this may have been a cover story to distract attention from the continuing search for one of the passengers who failed to turn up for the first flight on December 24, Air France Flight 68, and has not been traced since.

One Bush Administration official said: "There were several passengers on that flight that were of concern and we're working with our international partners to make sure all passengers on that flight are questioned. Two passengers did not show up. One was cleared, one remains at large."

French officials said the passenger had given his name as "Monsieur Abdoulaye" when he was booking his ticket. US anti-terrorism agents fear that he may be Abdou Hai, an Afghan suspected of having passed through al Qaeda training camps.

The ABC report said the fact that this one suspect was still at large was "one of the factors contributing to the continuing security jitters about transatlantic flights".

Since December 21 when the US raised the level of its security alert to Code Orange or "high", Washington has demanded the cancellation of a number of flights from Britain. Others have been delayed for lengthy periods while passenger lists are scrutinised by various US security agencies. Washington has also asked for sky marshals to be stationed on all flights to America.

The US Government sent teams of scientists with radiation detection devices to four major cities over the New Year's holiday to search for dirty bombs, Homeland Security officials said yesterday. Although there was no fear of a specific plot to use a "dirty bomb" - radioactive material scattered by conventional explosives - officials said teams were dispatched to monitor radiation levels in Washington, New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles during and leading up to New Year's celebrations.

"What's important when someone doesn't take a plane is to know why he didn't take it," Perben said.

French sources said they did not know if the man was travelling on a French passport, as ABC reported. Th ey said there was no proof that "M. Abdoulaye" was the suspected Afghan terrorist with a similar name. All the other "suspect names" identified by the US on the Christmas flights to LA had proved harmless. The fact that the man had proved untraceable was of concern.

There appeared to be some annoyance in the US and France that news of the search for the missing passenger from Flight 68 had leaked out. The CIA denied the ABC report before it was confirmed, in part, by the French Justice Minister yesterday. The French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, implicitly criticised his colleague, saying it was "too early to say anything at all on this case ... I prefer to talk only when all the facts have been checked".

British Airways Flight 223 from Heathrow to Washington was delayed for the fifth successive day after the US authorities demanded more information on passengers.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS