You mean like the folks on "Villigant's Island?"
Posted on 11/16/2001 1:16:52 PM PST by Tunehead54
PALMI, Italy (AP) - An Egyptian-Canadian stowaway who was arrested on terrorism charges after he was found with high-tech equipment in an Italian port was ordered freed from prison Thursday.
Amir Farid Rizk, 43, was arrested Oct. 18, the first person to be charged in Italy under a new international anti-terrorism law.
He was found in a shipping container equipped with a satellite phone, raising suspicions he was part of a terrorist network.
His lawyers, however, argued that Rizk was innocent and was fleeing religious discrimination and personal legal problems in his native Egypt. They said he is a Maronite Christian, a tiny minority within the Muslim country.
Prosecutor Roberto Di Palma said he would continue his investigation despite the court's ruling.
"This man is hiding something. Someone who is escaping from Egypt in a container is certainly trying to hide something," he told The Associated Press a few hours after the court announced its decision.
Defense lawyers said the prosecution overlooked the fact that Rizk not only had a satellite phone and a computer with him but household goods including a dishwasher, clothing and even family photos.
They said the container was being shipped to Canada while Rizk intended to fly to Montreal from Rome.
What raised prosecutors' suspicious was the sight of a well-dressed stowaway with high-tech equipment and a plane ticket in a container.
Rizk told his lawyers that he had fled because of a family dispute and was worried that authorities would not have allowed him to fly out.
The prosecutor said there were a number of suspicious elements in the case. He said Rizk had worked at one time as an aircraft mechanic on commercial jets.
"We were perplexed about his background," said Di Palma, who added that Rizk was sought by Egyptian authorities for an unexplained financial charge.
AP-ES-11-15-01 1009EST
Amir Farid Rizk, 43, was arrested Oct. 18, the first person to be charged in Italy under a new international anti-terrorism law.
Think we need to beef these anti-terrorist laws a bit?
If the court let him go, there must have been a total lack of evidence that he was a terrorist.
When small business people are questioned and find out that folks from their country they had previously helped can land them in jail for assisting a terrorist or result in the confiscation of their assets, it will result in foreign nationals questioning the character of those who seek their assistance.
I suspect that there is a lot more to this story than we will ever know. He may have been a potential terrorist supporter or mule, who had never done anything wrong and decided to completely cooperate with authorities and provide them with everything he knew.
He had worked as an airline mechanic, had a satellite phone, cell phone computer, fake ID, a plane ticket to Canada and a dishwasher? I'm still suspicious. What's a dishwasher? A little brush?
Whatever his story you'd think they could at least charge him with illegal entry into the country?
Scratch one "first-class with all amenities" illegal immigration network!
That was part of his defense - "I'm not a terrorist! See I have family photos and a dishwasher and some clothes and this chair ..."
Oh ... Ok. You can go now.
Maybe he is on bail for other charges which are still pending.
Where's he headed now...Flight School in Texas?....SHEESH!
FMCDH
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Miscellaneous
Source: ABC
Published: Oct. 24, 2001 Author: Ann Wise in Rome, Yael Lavie in London and Brian Hartman in Washington
Posted on 10/26/01 7:51 PM Eastern by truther
Italian police are trying to learn why Rizk Amid Farid, a 43-year-old Egyptian arrested near Rome, would have been shipping himself across the Atlantic Ocean in a furnished box complete with a bed and toilet.
Farid was discovered late last week in a shipyard in the southern port of Gioia Tauro, where his Canada-bound ship was docked for five days. Authorities on the ground say port authority personnel discovered Farid after hearing strange noises coming from his container.
Crammed into the suspicious stowaway's box with him were two cellular phones, a satellite phone, a computer, cameras, many documents, and even a drill for making airholes.
Police believe he boarded the ship in Egypt and planned to travel all the way to Canada. But Farid, who was holding a Canadian passport, also had a plane ticket to fly from Rome to Toronto to Montreal. His seat on the flight, scheduled to leave last Friday, was confirmed.
Italian investigators say everything about Farid — his documents and claims about himself — appear to be either false or obscured. They have checked his stories with police in other countries — including Egypt, Canada and the United States — and believe none has panned out. Canadian investigators are further investigating the suspect's background.
Though police have not said they have any direct evidence tying Farid to terrorism, he is the first person to be arrested in Italy on the basis of a new counterterrorism law passed last week in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Under the new law, he can be held for at least six months as investigators try to determine whether he is a terrorist.
A prosecutor said the stowaway had studied in Egypt and in North America to qualify as a commercial jet engine mechanic. Before leaving Egypt, however, he was believed to be working at a magazine distribution company. Investigators say he claimed to be "running away" from a powerful brother-in-law in Egypt and had traveled in the container for five days.
1 posted on 10/26/01 7:51 PM Eastern by truther
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"he was carrying airport maps and airside security passes for Canada, Thailand and Egypt"
"Mr Farid was finding it difficult to explain why he was carrying a return airline ticket from Montreal to Egypt, via Rome"
10/24 Times: Police said Mr Farid was finding it difficult to explain why he was carrying a return airline ticket from Montreal to Egypt, via Rome. Investigators said that could be an “insurance policy” enabling him to reach Canada by air in case he was discovered on the ship but managed to escape.
10/24 ABC: Police believe he boarded the ship in Egypt and planned to travel all the way to Canada. But Farid, who was holding a Canadian passport, also had a plane ticket to fly from Rome to Toronto to Montreal. His seat on the flight, scheduled to leave last Friday, was confirmed.
11/15 AP: They [defense lawyers] said the container was being shipped to Canada while Rizk intended to fly to Montreal from Rome.
You mean like the folks on "Villigant's Island?"
The washing machine was the stand in for the nuke in this test run.
Very plausible.
I remember this story when it broke, and I believe the guy had a lot of false airline or airport docs or badges. I'll try to find it.
This story stinks.
(I would hope that we have an isotope to plant in this guy to track him.)
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