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| Europe |
| Swedes Say Sven the Terrorist Planned U.S. Embassy Attack |
| 2002-08-31 |
| A Swedish man of Tunisian origin, arrested on suspicion he was about to hijack a plane, was planning to crash the aircraft into a U.S. embassy in Europe. The man was arrested on Thursday when a gun was found in his luggage as he boarded a flight to Britain from a small airport west of Stockholm. Police were looking for four more men, including an explosives expert, who worked with him on the plan. ``We know for sure that the plan was to crash the plane into a U.S. embassy in Europe,'' a military intelligence source told Reuters. What an original idea... The 29-year-old suspect had been moved to a high security prison and was expected to be charged on Monday. Police said they were investigating the man's background and looking for any possible links to militant groups. Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen said the man became a devout Muslim in the last few years, regularly visiting a mosque in Stockholm. The paper quoted his friends as saying he often spoke of fighting for Islam but was not a member of any organization. So we not only have to worry about al-Qaeda (aka Fath e-Islam), but also about assorted amateurs and nutcases who want to be Islamic heroes "'cuz it's neat"... Passengers on the plane flown by the Irish budget airline Ryanair included people traveling to an Islamic conference in the English city of Birmingham. Those heading to the conference had been questioned but were not suspects, police said. Wonder if the conference agenda will contain a discussion of why it's not nice to hijack planes full of screaming Islamic conference delegates and crash them into buildings? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |