Police seek Afghan over air-terror fears

From combined dispatches

PARIS — France said yesterday that the United States had asked it to track down an Afghan suspect behind an aviation scare that has forced a spate of cancellations and delays to U.S.-bound flights.

The search comes as European countries study U.S. demands that airlines carry armed air marshals on some U.S.-bound planes to guard against September 11-style attacks, with some companies vowing to cancel flights rather than comply.

A judicial source said France’s DST state security office was searching for an Afghan listed in the United States as a terrorist and suspected of preparing an attack against a Dec. 24 flight from Paris to Los Angeles. The flight was canceled.

“I confirm that we are looking for someone. I cannot tell you anything more,” French Justice Minister Dominique Perben told RMC radio when asked to give details of the police search.

ABC News reported Tuesday that the suspect, a passenger who failed to show up for the flight, was thought to have links to terror network al Qaeda and might have a small bomb to attack planes.

The French judicial source, who spoke to Reuters news agency on the condition of anonymity, gave the name of the suspect as Abdu Hai. The source said the man’s name did not appear on French files of suspects and that a formal antiterrorist investigation had not been launched.

ABC News said the suspect had a French passport and his details had been passed on to security officials at London’s Heathrow Airport. In Washington, a CIA spokesman dismissed the ABC report.

Concern in recent days has focused on British Airways Flight 223 from London to Washington Dulles International Airport. The flight was canceled twice last week and delayed several times owing to extra security procedures.

Washington has asked airlines flying to the United States to post armed marshals. Several airlines have complied, but some have opposed the plan.

On Tuesday, South African Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines, the charter flight arm of Europe’s second biggest travel firm, rejected the proposal.

Britain, France and the Netherlands stated readiness to employ marshals where necessary, while Hungary said it was ready to comply. Italy said it was studying the request, and Poland said it had yet to make a decision.

Germany has employed marshals on some flights since October 2001, and the Czech Republic has a similar policy.

The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association said it opposed any sustained use of air marshals but would accept them under special circumstances. British and Dutch pilots unions also have expressed reservations about the plan.

Story Continues →