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Hijack Suspect 'Planned U.S. Embassy Attack'
Reuters | August 31, 2002 08:02 AM ET | Reuters

Posted on 08/31/2002 5:35:33 AM PDT by freeperfromnj

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish man of Tunisian origin, arrested on suspicion he was about to hijack a plane, was planning to crash the aircraft into a U.S. embassy in Europe, Swedish intelligence sources said on Saturday.

Police are looking for four more men, including an explosives expert, who worked with him on the plan, the sources said.

"We know for sure that the plan was to crash the plane into a U.S. embassy in Europe," a military intelligence source told Reuters.

The man, 29, was arrested on Thursday -- almost a year after the September 11 hijack attacks on the United States -- after authorities said a gun was found in his luggage as he boarded a Ryanair flight to Britain in Vasteras, a small airport 100 km (60 miles) west of Stockholm.


TOPICS: Breaking News
KEYWORDS: chatty; hijacker; ryanair; usembassyplots

1 posted on 08/31/2002 5:35:33 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
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To: freeperfromnj
There is something fishy about this. Why would he try to get a gun on board in the manner in which he did? Also, how is someone going to take an aircraft flying hundreds of miles an hour and fly it into a single building among hundreds of other similar ones in 'a European city'?

May be a Darwin Award candidate if this story is true.

2 posted on 08/31/2002 5:45:10 AM PDT by Trust but Verify
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To: Trust but Verify
Why would he try to get a gun on board in the manner in which he did?

security is focused on box cutters?

3 posted on 08/31/2002 5:47:43 AM PDT by thinden
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To: Trust but Verify
how is someone going to take an aircraft flying hundreds of miles an hour and fly it into a single building among hundreds of other similar ones in 'a European city'?

MSNBC is reporting that our State Department cannot confirm this report. Swedish military intelligence, however, seems confident that was the plan.

4 posted on 08/31/2002 5:47:48 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
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To: freeperfromnj
Sounds like a story made up by the bed-wetters in Europe trying to look like they're on the job.
5 posted on 08/31/2002 5:51:35 AM PDT by Trust but Verify
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To: freeperfromnj
"Police are looking for four more men, including an explosives expert, who worked with him on the plan, the sources said."

I have a hard time believing this guy was working for al-Qaeda—this "plan" is far too stupid. For one thing, why would you need an explosives expert to crash a plane into a building? But more importantly, it's just not possible to crash a jetliner into a U.S. embassy. Buildings like the WTC and Pentagon are huge; the White House—which Flight 77 might have been trying to hit but couldn't see—is at least set apart from everything else. Embassies, though, are generally just office buildings in some downtown district. There's no way someone could spot one from the air at 300mph, let alone pilot something as big and sluggish as a passenger jet into one.

6 posted on 08/31/2002 5:53:17 AM PDT by Fabozz
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To: Fabozz
why would you need an explosives expert to crash a plane into a building?

Perhaps the explosives were planted in the building the plane was to crash into. I suppose more information will be trickling out on this as the day goes on.

7 posted on 08/31/2002 5:59:51 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
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To: freeperfromnj
I found a story from a Swedish newspaper that had a pic of the perp, however, his face was blocked out. Can any FReepers read Swedish?

Source

8 posted on 08/31/2002 6:10:45 AM PDT by csvset
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To: csvset; MadIvan
Can any FReepers read Swedish?
9 posted on 08/31/2002 6:16:45 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
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To: csvset
am rusty and don't feel like strugglin thru the whole article w/dictionary at hand-HOWEVER, interrogation by state security forces shows that this scumbag was in the U.S. form Sept '96 to June '97 IN FLIGHT SCHOOL for small planes....
10 posted on 08/31/2002 6:34:16 AM PDT by 1234
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To: 1234
this scumbag was in the U.S. form Sept '96 to June '97 IN FLIGHT SCHOOL for small planes....

Thanks for this information. This piece of the puzzle certainly gives this report credibility.

11 posted on 08/31/2002 6:37:08 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
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To: 1234
Yumping Yimminy! Sounds like the Islam-a-bombers had a ten year plan. There's no telling how many of these freaks have been trained for this type of mission.
12 posted on 08/31/2002 6:39:29 AM PDT by csvset
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To: freeperfromnj; 1234

Kerim Chatty

This is the guy. Thanks for the translation, 1234

13 posted on 08/31/2002 6:52:10 AM PDT by csvset
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To: Fabozz; MadIvan
According to MadIvan the U.S. Embassy in London would be easy to spot.
14 posted on 08/31/2002 7:01:53 AM PDT by ItisaReligionofPeace
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To: csvset
I'm sure that by now every Islam type who has been in our flight school during the past 10 years has been accounted for...
15 posted on 08/31/2002 7:03:20 AM PDT by ItisaReligionofPeace
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To: Fabozz; MadIvan; Miss Marple
What if this was a dry run??

Follow me a second...since 9/11 our airports and airlines have been tested three times.

1)Reid ......shoe bomber.

2)LAX shooting spree 4th of July..

3)This incident....someone tried to smuggle a gun on board a plane.

We are being probed.

Someone is more than likely taking notes as these attempts are being made.....

16 posted on 08/31/2002 7:47:22 AM PDT by Dog
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To: csvset
Can any FReepers read Swedish?

http://www.worldlanguage.com/Translation.htm

17 posted on 08/31/2002 7:55:44 AM PDT by justlurking
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To: freeperfromnj
From Anova

Accused hijacker received pilot
training in US


A man arrested at a Swedish airport after a gun was found
in his hand luggage received an incomplete pilot education
in the United States.

Karem Chatty, 29, was detained on Thursday at
Vaesteraas airport in Stockholm as he prepared to board a
Ryanair flight to London Stansted airport.

Through his lawyer he has denied planning a hijacking and
has stated he was on his way to an Islamic conference in
Birmingham.

The chief of the Swedish national security police has
denied a statement from a CIA source that the suspect was
planning to crash the aircraft into a US embassy in Europe
and that Swedish police are looking for four men connected
to the plan.

Several passengers already aboard the plane were
evacuated while police searched the cabin and luggage
compartment, before the plane took off for its original
destination several hours late without the suspect and the
group police believed he was travelling with.

The suspect was being held on a preliminary charge of
planning to hijack a plane. A hearing will be held in a few
days to determine if the man should remain in custody until
prosecutors decide to charge him or not.

Swedish police say they are investigating a possible link to
terrorism. They have also confirmed a media report that
Chatty had partial pilot training in the United States.

But they stress it is just one part of the investigation and she
declined to comment further on the motive.

Meanwhile, defence attorney Nils Uggla said his client can
explain why he carried a gun in a toiletries bag and that
Chatty regretted causing trouble for the 20 people booked
for the same flight to Britain who also were detained for
questioning and later released.

"He denies that this has anything at all to do with terrorism
or plane hijacking," Uggla said. "He is deeply sorry that he
caused trouble for the others who were travelling."

Police said the suspect had a criminal record and had been
convicted of theft and assault.

The Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reported today that the
suspect had attended flight school in Conway, South
Carolina. The paper quoted John Trautman, an official at
the North American Institute of Aviation, saying the suspect
had studied at the school.

"Unfortunately I cannot see whether he finally received a
diploma or not," Trautman was quoted as saying.

Ursula Alford, office manager at the North American
Institute of Aviation in Conway, said the she didn't
remember anyone named Karem Chatty or anyone
matching his description studying at the school during the
21 years she's worked there.

Story filed: 14:54 Saturday 31st August 2002
18 posted on 08/31/2002 10:04:34 AM PDT by tallhappy
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Link for above at Anova
19 posted on 08/31/2002 10:05:55 AM PDT by tallhappy
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To: freeperfromnj
Bump


I've been trying to say this since 9-11. I guess I will be labeled as a bigoted American. By: An American Airlines Pilot - Captain ???? ?????????


September 11 Grievances

"You worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me. I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.

On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers. So I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist. How do I differentiate between the true Arab-Muslim-Americans and the Arab-Muslims in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter those very same good neighbors and children? The events of September 11th changed the answer. It is not my responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of it's religions, with ALL of it's different citizens, with all of it's faults. It is time for every Arab-Muslim in this country to determine it for me. I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know whether or not you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to it's flag? Do you proudly display in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation, that He will protect and prosper it?

Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your "Jihads"? Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it. Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America.

Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent because I worry about who you regard as innocent. And no more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy ...I am only interested in action. What will you do for America-our great country-at this time of crisis, at this time of war? I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America". I want to see young Arab-Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.

The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, now! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals. The very few Arab-Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States prove who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat. If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and true when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance. It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if large numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members defended Johnny Cochran and O. J. Simpson after the latter butchered his wife and murdered an innocent friend. A form whose members (some as young a five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our women proudly show their faces in public rather than cover up like a shameful whore? Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink wine with dinner, or celebrate Christmas? Do you and you fellow Muslims hate us because we have befriended Israel, the ONLY civilized democratic nation in the entire middle-east? And if you and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world are you even here? Are you here to take our money? Are you here to undermine our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us? If so, I want you to leave. I want you to go back to your desert sandpit where women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to take your religion, your friends, and your family back to your Islamic extremists, and STAY THERE! We will NEVER give in to your influence, your retarded mentality, your twisted, violent, intolerant religion. We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us: Our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab-Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to demand it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family. I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American. But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand." "Until then ... you worry me." ""



20 posted on 08/31/2002 10:37:02 AM PDT by B-Cause
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To: Fabozz
You are correct that it would be difficult but with the new GPS units it is remotely possible.
21 posted on 08/31/2002 11:01:09 AM PDT by oc-flyfish
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To: Fabozz
It is obvious the explosives expert wasn't on the plane...how about a planting secondary explosion at the embassy when the responders arrive? Been done before.


>>> For one thing, why would you need an explosives expert to crash a plane into a building?



Like the Pentagon? Are you high? Do you know the specific layouts of every embassy in Europe? The guy had flight training, is an Islamist,...oh thats right, lets not profile.

And why a handgun in Sweden?? There are very strict handgun laws in Sweden...as in, there are none allowed. If the security never sees them, one would think it might slip through. Not like LAX pre-911 where 10 a day would be caught....

>>But more importantly, it's just not possible to crash a jetliner into a U.S. embassy. Buildings like the WTC and Pentagon are huge; the White House—which Flight 77 might have been trying to hit but couldn't see—is at least set apart from everything else. Embassies, though, are generally just office buildings in some downtown district. There's no way someone could spot one from the air at 300mph, let alone pilot something as big and sluggish as a passenger jet into one.
22 posted on 08/31/2002 11:56:11 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: Dog
4.) Dirty bomb guy flying to Chicago (armed FBI agents respond by sitting behind him for the flight)

I bet they love to hear the Air Marshalls quitting in droves.



>>1)Reid ......shoe bomber.

>>2)LAX shooting spree 4th of July..

>>3)This incident....someone tried to smuggle a gun on board a plane.
23 posted on 08/31/2002 11:59:06 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
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To: tallhappy
Meanwhile, defence attorney Nils Uggla said his client can explain why he carried a gun in a toiletries bag and that Chatty regretted causing trouble for the 20 people booked for the same flight to Britain who also were detained for questioning and later released.

"I can explain why I carried a gun in my toiletries bag--you see, I had had a series of death threats from my shaving cream, but the police--as I am muslim--refused to protect me. It is a simple case of reverse profiling, for which I am suing Western Civilization."

24 posted on 08/31/2002 12:07:27 PM PDT by PhilDragoo
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To: BurbankKarl
Thanks I forgot about the dirty bomber..
25 posted on 08/31/2002 12:11:21 PM PDT by Dog
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To: Fabozz
IF it is a clear day it would be very easy to spot a target if you had familiarized yourself with it via aerial photos. You simply pick out a landmark near the target that is easy to spot and then fly a predetermined vector from that landmark to the target. Also a hand held gps unit would get you where you want to go even with poor visibility.

It is not that difficult if you have even rudimentry skills as a pilot.

26 posted on 08/31/2002 1:52:03 PM PDT by cpdiii
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To: ItisaReligionofPeace
According to MadIvan the U.S. Embassy in London would be easy to spot

Very Easy. It sits on one end of Grosvnor Square with no tall buildings in front of it. Dead easy.

27 posted on 08/31/2002 2:01:17 PM PDT by cpdiii
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To: BurbankKarl
Airliners cruise at around 300 mph that doesn't mean that they can't fly at a slower airspeed . Simply throttle back & lower the flaps to go even slower deploy the leading edge slats you can then fly at just above stall speed which is about 150 mph.
28 posted on 08/31/2002 4:57:19 PM PDT by Nebr FAL owner
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To: csvset
Not to bash the media, but what's the point of showing the mug shot of a guy if you're just going to black square out his face?

Is this common practice in Sweden?

29 posted on 08/31/2002 10:21:36 PM PDT by GEC
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To: freeperfromnj
The Swedes are denying the intelligence leak now.
30 posted on 08/31/2002 11:29:40 PM PDT by The Raven
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To: GEC
Is this common practice in Sweden?

I'm not sure. It doesn't make any sense though, does it? The pic that I posted was from another Swedish website, so why the other site had his face blocked is beyond me.

31 posted on 09/01/2002 4:31:36 AM PDT by csvset
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