Off topic -- details on Swedish hijacking suspect.
August 31, 2002
Swedish Hijacking Suspect Attended U.S. Flight School
Associated Press
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A Swedish man of Tunisian origin who was
arrested with a gun in his carryon luggage at a Swedish airport once
attended a U.S. flight school and had a criminal record, a top security
official and his lawyer said Saturday.
The suspect, identified by his lawyer as 29-year-old Kerim Chatty, flunked
out of the flight school in Conway, S.C., the school's chief operating
officer said.
"He just wasn't a good student. ... He wasn't cutting the mustard and we let
him go," Robert Sunday said Saturday.
Mr. Chatty's lawyer, Nils Uggla, denied his client was planning to hijack a
flight to London.
Mr. Chatty was being held on a preliminary charge of planning to hijack a
plane and illegal possession of a firearm after he was detained Thursday.
Police said he had been on his way to an Islamic conference in
Birmingham, England.
Margareta Linderoth, the director of the national security police, said
authorities were investigating possible links to terrorist groups.
Mr. Chatty was detained at Vaesteraas airport in central Sweden as he
prepared to board a Ryanair flight to London. Mr. Uggla said his client,
whose father is from Tunisia and mother is from Sweden, has denied any
plans to hijack the plane and can explain why he carried a gun in a
toilet-articles bag. Mr. Uggla would not be more specific, citing a gag
order.
"He denies that this has anything at all to do with terrorism or airplane
hijacking," Mr. Uggla said. "He is deeply sorry that he caused trouble for
the others who were traveling."
Several passengers already aboard the aircraft were evacuated while police
searched the cabin and luggage compartment on Thursday.
The plane took off for London several hours late without the suspect and
other Muslims with whom police initially believed he was traveling. The
others were released after questioning.
Ms. Linderoth said Mr. Chatty took pilot training at a school in the U.S. A Swedish tabloid newspaper reported
that the suspect had attended flight school in Conway, S.C., from 1996-1997.
Mr. Sunday said that Mr. Chatty passed a test to get into the school in September 1996.
"Several months later, he was terminated from the program for not making normal progress," Mr. Sunday
said. Mr. Chatty's visa was tied to the instruction, so he had to leave the U.S. after being kicked out of the
school, Mr. Sunday said. The FBI visited the school Saturday.
At least three of the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks attended or visited flight schools in the U.S.
A hearing for Mr. Chatty will be held in a few days to determine if he should remain in custody until
prosecutors decide whether to charge him.
Mr. Uggla said his client was "was very much against violence" and was being unfairly portrayed because of
his religion and the proximity of the anniversary of Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S.
"He is Muslim, he is flying and he has a gun and it's close to 11 of September," Mr. Uggla said. "That makes
people draw quick conclusions."
Although Ms. Linderoth said her agency, known as SAPO, was investigating a possible link to terrorist groups,
she stressed that this was just one part of the investigation. "It's too early to say" about a motive, she said.
Mr. Chatty, a recent convert to Islam, has previously been convicted on theft and assault charges, including
one from a 1997 brawl with a group of U.S. Marines at a gym in Stockholm. The fight followed an earlier
scuffle with the Marines at a bar, Mr. Uggla said.
Mr. Uggla dismissed reports that his client was planning to crash the aircraft into a U.S. embassy and said he
hadn't received any related information from prosecutors or police. "It sounds highly unlikely," he said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Keith Petersen, declined to comment on the report or the
scuffle with the Marines, saying the investigation was "in the hands of Swedish authorities." Other Swedish
military and government officials referred questions to the security police.
Mr. Uggla said he had spoken to Mr. Chatty by phone and would meet him on Sunday at a police station in
Vaesteraas, 60 miles northwest of the capital, Stockholm.
Mr. Uggla also wouldn't confirm that his client was heading to an Islamic conference as police said, but did
confirm that he was on his way to Birmingham.
Organizers of a conference hosted by the Salafi Bookstore and Islamic Center in Birmingham said they did not
know if the suspect was to attend.
"We do not know him and nor have we had any communications with him," Abu Kahadeejah said in a
statement on Friday, when the three-day meeting began.
Copyright (c) 2002 The Associated Press
Updated August 31, 2002 11:02 p.m. EDT
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