UPDATE ON THE SUSPECTED ISLAMIC HIJACK ATTEMPT IN SWEDEN..... excuses, excuses, excuses.

UPDATE ON THE SUSPECTED ISLAMIC HIJACK ATTEMPT IN SWEDEN

As a public service to those of you who want to keep track of the latest developments in the case, following is a last minute resumé from Swedish and international press:

- Lawyer: "The 29-year old Denies All Charges"
- "My Son is Not a Terrorist"
- American Flight Teacher had Warned the FBI
- Kerim Chatty was a Substandard Flight Student
- Swedish al-Qaida Suspect: "He Would Never Kill Other Muslims"
- Club Owner: "Chatty has Changed Completely. It's Terrible"

LAWYER: "THE 29-YEAR OLD DENIES ALL CHARGES"

Defence lawyer Nils Uggla told Aftonbladet his client is "very much against violence" and was being unfairly suspected of terrorism because of his Muslim faith and the timing of his arrest.
"He is Muslim, he is flying and he has a gun and it's close to 11 September," Mr Uggla said. "That makes people draw quick conclusions".
http...

"-He is profoundly dismayed over this whole situation", Mr. Uggla, who has represented Chatty before in other criminal investigations, added. "- He denies the charges on terrorism or hijacking". Mr. Uggla has only had one telephone conversation with his client, and has been given a gag order. "-I knew him as a man who decided to change his life a couple of years ago, and to stop using violence". Asked why he had brought a loaded gun in his handluggage, Mr Uggla answered: "-He has got an explanation for that. An explanation that I find satisfactory".
http...

FORMAL CHARGES WILL BE BROUGHT MONDAY AND CHATTY'S 'EXPLANATION' MIGHT BE REVEALED

Prosecutors in Sweden have until midday on Monday to decide whether to bring formal charges against the suspect, although they can apply to hold him for longer. This is also when Chatty's alleged "explanation" for bringing a loaded gun onboard might become official. American federal agents have visited the flight school in South Carolina where he took seven months of flying lessons without obtaining his licence. Instructor James Lamb said the student had been "very substandard" and his course had been terminated for poor performance.

THE GUARDIAN PROFILES KERIM CHATTY:

Chatty was born in Stockholm in 1973 and had a Tunisian father, a physiotherapist, a Swedish mother, a brother and two sisters. He grew up in Basta, a quiet town outside the capital. For the first 25 years of his life he appears to have shown little interest in Islam and a lot of interest in fighting, guns and keeping fit with kickboxing. He was well known to both Swedish police and the Swedish intelligence service, 'Sapo', with a string of convictions for violent crime.

Four years ago Chatty spent a year in prison for carrying a loaded 9mm Glock machine pistol. He served several months for an attack in a gym on a US marine serving at the US embassy in Stockholm.

Chatty's conversion [to fundamentalist Islam] came after - or during - his incarceration in 1998. When police raided his Stockholm apartment last week they found quantities of hardline Islamic literature. According to friends, Chatty talked a lot about Jihad (holy war), and made a series of trips overseas. His mother says he was in Saudi Arabia on 11 September, and that Swedish police questioned him on his whereabouts during 9/11. He spoke of moving to the Yemen, the southern Arabian state which has been a haven for hardline Islamic groups, and enrolling in a religious school. But he apparently told friends that he did not want to be part of any one group. His jihad, he said, would be a personal one.
http...

Chatty was said to have lived in a student flat in Conway between 1996-97 and paid $5,000 for a pilot training scheme. The fitness fanatic and kickboxer was carrying a 6.5 calibre pistol loaded with three or four rounds when he was arrested. Passengers on the plane, flown by the Irish budget airline Ryanair, included a group of 20 Muslims travelling to a conference in Birmingham on the future of the purist Salafi strand of Islam. Experts say an affiliation with Salafi Islam does not necessarily indicate support for al-Qaeda and its methods.
http...

Some in Sapo, Sweden's security agency, said they had been instructed by the government to play down the incident at a politically sensitive time, two weeks before an election. There are fears anti-immigrant groups could try and exploit it.

"MY SON IS NOT A TERRORIST"

Kerim's father says his son became less prone to violence after he "changed his life" recently. "-He is innocent, and this is a tragedy for the entire family", he asserted with evidence of fatigue and chock in his face. The family lives in a house outside Stockholm. In front of it is a nietly cut lawn, and four parked cars. Despite the heavy social and criminal record of his son, Mr Chatty, owner of small business, claims his son grew up in a "stable environment". It was the father who had talked Kerim into taking flight lessons. "- I wanted him to become a pilot". Kerim failed the course in the United States.

STAYED IN VICINITY OF MOHAMMED ATTA BUT HAD "NO CONNECTION"

After failing in the Comway Flight School and at Ocean Isle beach, he went back home. He returned to the US in 1998 going to Pembroke Pines near Palm Beach a couple of kilometers from Delray Beach where Mohammed Atta and his gang later established their base. He wanted to continue his training in a school there but never did.

"-He didn't know any of those guys. He condemned them and thought they were crazy", the father affirms. Mr Chatty says his son had met some people in the US who had talked to him about islam. When Kerim returned to Sweden he was already an active Muslim. "He has made two trips to Saudi-Arabia to study Islam. He was there on pilgrimage on September 11".

HE "FORGOT" ABOUT THE GUN

"-I think he forgot about the gun stuck in his affairs when he moved out of his apartment three months ago", his father said. "He came here some hours before he was supposed to fly off. He was calm and in a good mood. I gave him some money to buy presents for his sisters". "This whole thing will die off. My son is not a terrorist", Mr Chatty concluded.
http...

'MAIL ON SUNDAY': FLIGHT TEACHER HAD WARNED THE FBI

The FBI has had their eyes on Kerim Chatty since September 11: "-We knew the man, but we won't comment on a case under investigation", an FBI official told The Mail on Sunday. " Swedish Authorities were not asked to intervene since no link to any known organisation was found".

Kerim's American flight teacher had alerted the agency, saying Chatty had a profile similar to the September 11 hijackers, of which some took flying lessons at American flight schools. The British paper The Mail on Sunday today likens the behaviour of Chatty with that of the Muhammed Atta ring. Chatty studied at two flight schools, and later went on to Florida to take extra classes, but never took out his certificat.

FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR TRIED TO CONTACT CHATTY, THEN CALLED THE FBI

Chatty's second flight instructor and owner of the Ocean Isle Beach Flight School, Peter Nagy, tried, in vain, to get hold of Chatty in order to deliver his flight certificat. Not being able to reach him after several months following September 11, he got suspicious and contacted the FBI. According to the British paper, US President Bush is said to be worried about the news from Sweden, and will be briefed at his return to Washington.

Reuters yesterday quoted Swedish security officials saying they had compelling evidence Mr Chatty would try to crash the plane into an American embassy in Europe. British police was also quoted as saying that four anti-terror officials from MI5 and the CIA's London Office respectively had been sent to Västerås. This was vehemently denied by the head of Swedish SÄPO, Margareta Linderoth. Nevertheless, Swedish government officials, including opposition leaders and other senior officials on vacation were informed and kept on notice by SÄPO of the latest developments in the case.
http...

"KERIM CHATTY WAS A SUBSTANDARD FLIGHT STUDENT"

The vice-President of the North American Institute of Aviation (NAIA), Bob Sunday says: "-He didn't meet our standards and his training was interrupted", says Sunday. "- It's unusual for a student not to pass the first six months. He was one of them". This meant he could only fly Cessna 152 and the bigger Cessna 172. Bob Sunday says Chatty would not be able to take-off or land a Boeing sized aircraft, while confirming that taking over and flying it into a building would be a simple matter for a any pilot. "-When he failed, that's when we contacted the authorities to terminate his visa. He should have left the country within a month of that date".
http...

James Lamb, assistant chief flight instructor with the North American Institute of Aviation in Conway, South Carolina told Reuters an FBI agent was at the school Saturday seeking information on Kerim Chatty.
http...

Douglas Bechner, the former head of the flight school in Cromway, SC, says he is surprised that an ex-convict was ever able to get a visa to take flight classes in the US. "-Perhaps he manipulated his passport or credentials", Beckner speculated. Aftonbladet goes on to interview former classmates of Chatty at the NAIA school who asserted they would be able to command a jumbojet in the air. They remember Kerim Chatty as an assiduous student, with whom they got along well.

SWEDISH AL-QAIDA SUSPECT: "HE WOULD NEVER KILL OTHER MUSLIMS"

A 36-year old man holding a Swedish passport, currently detained by US police on suspicions he conspired with American al-Qaida suspect James Ujaama to establish a terrorist training camp in the US, is an acquaintance of Kerim Chetty. Interviewed on his relations with the suspected hijacker, whom he met in a Swedish prison, he says they never discussed politics. "-We practiced kickboxing, prayed together and played videogames. He knew I approved of fighting Jihad, but he never talked about terror with me. My view is we have to fight in our own countries, not in Europe or the States".

"IF PLANE CARRIED AMERICAN SOLDIERS, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT"

Asked whether he was surprised that his former jailmate was held on terrorism charges, he said "- You never know what you'll find in the depth of someone's heart". The 36-year old does not beleive Chatty wanted to hijack the plane. "-If you want to smuggle in a handgun, you have to do it with cunning. And I don't beleive he wanted to crash the plane. There were Muslims on it. It's against Islam to kill other Muslims. It would have been different if the plane was packed with American soldiers", the al-Qaida suspect concluded.
http...

CLUB OWNER: "CHATTY HAS CHANGED COMPLETELY. IT'S TERRIBLE"

Chique club owner Milan Sevo was a good friend of Chatty's older brother, who, like his Kerim, worked as a hitman in the Yugoslav maffia operating in Stockholm. "-Kerim changed completely, growing a beard down to his belt, travelling to Mecka and praying five times a week. I respect people who love their faith, but this was fanatic", he describes.

Asked whether he beleived Kerim would be able to commit a suicide terrorist act he said he wouldn't be any more surprised than the friends and relatives of the 9/11 hijackers, who knew nothing of what they were capable of.
http...

/ The Viking