France searches for noshow man on xmas flight list
French authorities are searching for a passenger who
failed to show up for an Air France flight that was
canceled because of security concerns on Christmas Eve,
France's justice minister said Wednesday.
The man, who was ticketed for Air France flight 68 from
Paris to Los Angeles on Dec. 24, was believed to have
trained in Afghanistan, have ties to al-Qaida and carry
a French passport, ABC television news reported, citing
unidentified American officials.
The passenger also was feared to have been carrying a
small bomb with components that might get past airport
security, according to the ABC report.
"I confirm that we are looking for someone, but I can't
say more," Justice Minister Dominique Perben said in an interview.
"What's important when someone doesn't take a plane is
to know why he didn't take it," Perben said.
Flight 68 was one of six Air France flights between
Paris and Los Angeles on Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day that were canceled after security talks between
U.S. and French officials.
Perben declined to respond to questions about whether
the suspect was a French national, had a criminal
record or was on a watch list of the French
counter-terrorism agency, DST.
Separately, French judicial officials, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said investigators were looking
for an Afghan man, Abdou Hai, whose name appears on a
U.S. terrorism watch list.
His last name matches that of a passenger ticketed to
board flight 68 but did not show up, the officials
said. Investigators have not yet established whether
the Afghan man and the absent passenger are the same person.
The officials said the man being pursued is not known
to counter-intelligence authorities, and no judicial
investigation has been opened.
Copyright 2004, Digital Chicago Inc.
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As Orwell pointed out long ago, pacifism in the face of
armed evil is equivalent to a blind worship of force.
It would be disastrous to entrust our children's fate
to the hands of these sad and complicitous pacifists.
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