'Shoe bomber' explosive linked to Hamas
By Douglas Davis
LONDON (December 30) - The explosive packed into the black basketball sneakers of British "shoe bomber" Richard Reid was similar to that developed and used by Hamas in suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks, according to US investigators.
Reid was overpowered by a stewardess and fellow passengers while attempting to detonate the explosives in midair on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami last Saturday.
He is now being held without bail in Boston, where he is facing charges of intimidation or assault of the flight crew, which carries a potential 20-year jail term. More serious charges are expected to follow.
Investigators were initially inclined to accept his claim that he had acted alone, but they now believe that the complexity of the operation indicates that he was part of a broader conspiracy.
Israeli security sources, quoted by the Times yesterday, said that Hamas's two master bombmakers Jassar Samaru and Nassim Abu Rus developed the technique for manufacturing the explosive, known as TATP (triacetone triperoxide).
They noted that the explosive, dubbed the "Mother of Satan" by its makers, is highly unstable, and that at least 40 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed while handling the substance.
The Israeli sources were also quoted as saying that Hamas bombmakers have perfected a way to dry the explosive and mold it into belts worn by suicide bombers.
Two Palestinian terrorists, currently serving 20-year jail terms for their part in 1994 attacks on the Israeli embassy and Jewish community offices in London, were found to possess TATP. Samar Alami, a chemical engineer who studied at London University's Imperial College, and her accomplice, Jawad Botmeh, who studied engineering at Leicester University, were found to have played a key role in the attacks.
Meanwhile, investigators in Israel are reported to be continuing to attempt to reconstruct the activities of Reid during a 10-day visit to Israel and the Gaza Strip last July.
Reid, a 28-year-old convert to Islam who was known as Abdel Rahim at the mosque he attended in Brixton, south London, arrived in Israel after visits to Egypt and Turkey. The following month he visited Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he is thought to have spent time at an al-Qaida training camp before returning to Europe.
Subsequent trips took him France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Paris, where urgent investigations are now under way to reconstruct his movements, locate his contacts and determine the nature of his visits.
Reid, who was traveling on a British passport, is believed to have acquired his customized "suicide shoes" - with the explosives molded into the heels - in Amsterdam earlier this month.
In addition to possible meetings with Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, it is thought that Reid's visit to Israel and other countries in the months leading up to his abortive attack was designed to test airport and airline security systems. El Al spokesman Nachman Klieman was quoted here as saying that Reid had indeed raised suspicion during a routine security check.
A thorough examination was made of his person, his luggage and his clothes, including his shoes, before security officials allowed him to board an El Al flight but seated him next to an armed sky marshal. An Israeli source said Israel had received no advance intelligence warnings about Reid.
Meanwhile, amid reports that "hundreds of Richard Reids" may have been recruited in Britain, Scotland Yard is understood to have sent senior police officers to Israel to learn how to cope with the threat and aftermaths of suicide bomb attacks. |
