Analyst: 'Shoe Bomber' Probably Not Acting Alone
dailynews.yahoo.com
By Ed Cropley
Monday December 24 8:48 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber seized on a transatlantic flight with explosives packed in his training shoes was probably acting as part of a wider terrorist network, a security analyst said Monday.
Paul Wilkinson, a terrorism expert at Scotland's St. Andrews University said the make-shift device the man had on board the Paris to Miami flight Saturday was sufficiently sophisticated to suggest he was not acting alone.
``What is significant is the statement from the FBI that these were working devices. He was not just some lunatic, but had a device in both shoes that would have gone off. That's a sign of some sophistication,'' Wilkinson told Reuters.
``On the face of it, it seems unlikely that an individual working on his own would acquire such an unusual means of destruction,'' Wilkinson said.
U.S. federal prosecutors identified the arrested man as Richard Reid, 28.
He was due to appear in a Boston federal court Monday charged with interfering with the flight crew after allegedly trying to set his shoes alight and ignite the explosives as he sat in the economy section of the Boeing 767 Saturday.
The world has been on heightened alert since the September 11 attacks on the U.S., fearing more moves from Osama bin Laden and his militant al Qaeda group, the prime suspects behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Wilkinson said the explosive used, most probably a commercial material called 'C4' according to officials at Boston's Logan airport, was popular with terrorists and could be bought relatively easily over the Internet.
``It's quite popular with commercial users and terrorists,'' Wilkinson said, adding that the material had been used in guerrilla attacks in South Asia, the Philippines and Latin America.
Meanwhile, confusion surrounded the identity of the alleged bomber.
Britain's Scotland Yard police force said the man, named as Richard C. Reid by the FBI and said to be traveling on a British passport, was ``believed'' to be a British citizen.
``It's an FBI investigation, because they arrested him. Obviously, if he does turn out to be British, Scotland Yard will help with the investigation,'' a spokeswoman said.
Britain's Foreign Office also declined to comment on media speculation he could be of Sri Lankan origin but was now a naturalized Briton.
Two newspapers said French police had identified him as Sri Lankan national Tariq Raja, who also went by the name Abdel Rahim. |
