Article

2017-06-11 Europe

EasyJet plane diverts over ‘terrorist activity’ threat

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Posted by trailing wife 2017-06-11 00:19|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 . They isolated a backpack belonging to the three suspects, which was blown up by bomb squad officers.

Can they determine what is in the backpack before it is blown up? Not exactly, of course, but at least the difference between wires and batteries vs. dirty underwear?

Posted by AlanC 2017-06-11 08:34|| 2017-06-11 08:34|| Front Page Top

#2 Ask and ye shall receive, AlanC. ;-) Update from Deutsche Welle:

Three British citizens, whose conversations on board an Easyjet flight prompted an unscheduled landing in Cologne, were released on Sunday after being detained and questioned for hours by German authorities.

German authorities questioned the men and examined their cell phones but found no evidence to indicate that they were planning an attack, Cologne police said in a statement.

"At the moment Cologne police believe there was no actual threat," the statement read.

Earlier, police told DW that three British nationals were detained in connection to reports that they engaged in discussions about "terrorist activities." The men - aged 31, 38 and 48 - were returning from a business trip in Slovenia.

According to police, a female passenger on the Saturday flight overheard a conversation in which the men discussed "terrorist content and alerted crew members. Authorities said they could not verify the content of the conversation, but they said that one of the men was carrying a book that had the word "kill" and a picture of a sniper on it.

Police also destroyed a backpack using controlled explosives. The luggage reportedly belonged to the 48-year-old suspect and was destroyed after officials found suspicious cables inside. The cables turned out be various charging cords and adapters, authorities said.

People clearly now believe in the likelihood of terrorists attacking them. How that will impact the next round of elections remains to be seen.

Posted by trailing wife 2017-06-11 19:41|| 2017-06-11 19:41|| Front Page Top

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