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| Fifth Column |
| Wired Iraqi man triggers scare at L.A. airport |
| 2007-03-07 |
| No idea what this man was trying to achieve here, let speculation ensue. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday but officials said he posed no apparent threat. The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, set off an alarm during passenger screening at the airport early on Tuesday morning. A police bomb squad was called to examine what was deemed a suspicious item found during a body cavity search of the man. Local media reports said a magnet was found in his rectum. "He was secreting these items in a body cavity and that was a great concern because there were also some electric wires associated with that body cavity," Larry Fetters, security director for the Transportation Security Administration at the airport, told reporters. |
| Posted by:Thomp Gruth5350 |
| #33 "During questioning, Al-Maliki said the objects in his rectum were used to alleviate stress, federal law enforcement sources said." Yes, yes. It all makes sense now. Haven't you ever seen one of those "executive ass rocks from Mars stress buster" in the Sharper Image catalog? |
| Posted by: garbagecowboy 2007-03-07 23:26 |
| #32 Cultural thingee? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-03-07 22:11 |
| #31 Sadly it pretty obvious that KBK and Alaska Paul are pretty much going to hell. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-07 20:40 |
| #30 Oh wow! A Bum Bomb! |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-03-07 20:22 |
| #29 The rock, authorities said he told them, was from another planet. This is takin' the whole moon-god worshippin' comments here at the 'burg a lil' too far for my likin'! And, FOTSGreg (#23), you forgot to add: 6) Kinda liked the Affirmative Action of the TSA. Had a Transgendered lesbian do a full rectal scan. 7) Arrived the day before (in LA) from Philly, only to turn around and fly back the next day? Yeah, nuttin' strange there (unless he's a "Businessman" for the Hollyweirdo set in L.A. and practicing his wares). |
| Posted by: BA 2007-03-07 19:53 |
| #28 I am sure he just didn't have any pockets and needed someplace to keep his goodies! |
| Posted by: Brett 2007-03-07 19:12 |
| #27 That's just freakin great. After 9/11 you couldn't take a pocket knife on a plane. After the attempted shoe bombing they inspected your shoes. And now ... |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-03-07 18:17 |
| #26 "so, who tried to sneak these through?" "some asshole" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-07 17:34 |
| #25 How can this thread go for more than 20 comments without -- "Rectum? Damn near killed 'em!" I swear, Rantburg is slipping. |
| Posted by: Mizzou Mafia 2007-03-07 17:25 |
| #24 The rock, authorities said he told them, was from another planet. Interplanetary rocks.. rectal insertion for stress... sounds reasonable to your typical TSA inspector... |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-03-07 17:23 |
| #23 According to the news media the authorities are already denyng that this was terror-related. How many clues do these idiots need? Lemme' see... 1) Iraqi national (ie Middle-Eastern male) 2) 35 (ie between the ages of 17 and 42) 3) Wearing wires 4) Possessing a magnetic device discovered by body cavity search 5) Wires were associated with magnetic device discovered in body cavity Which one of these five basic clues is not "terror-related" and how does this whole episode get immediately tagged by the authorities as being "not terror-related". How stupid do they think we are? Where's the friggin' bomb squad to blow this sob up like they do "suspicious packages"? I'm afraid that if I'd seen this and been armed I'd have blown the guy away on the spot before he could go for the triggering mechanism. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-03-07 17:05 |
| #22 Authorities called in the bomb squad early Tuesday and diverted a flight to Las Vegas after Los Angeles International Airport security screeners found hidden wires and other objects in a body cavity of a Philadelphia-bound passenger. Fadhel Al-Maliki, a 35-year-old Iraqi national living in Atlantic City, N.J., had been flagged by security officials at LAX and was undergoing a secondary "selectee screening" when he set off a metal detector. Al-Maliki, a former security guard, told screeners that he knew what had triggered the alarm and proceeded to remove items from his rectum, including a rock, chewing gum and thin wire filament. Larry Fetters, federal security director at LAX, said at news conference that Transportation Security Administration officers had become alarmed because Al-Maliki was acting strange but initially refused to identify the items he had hidden. Concern that the objects might be components for an explosive device led airport authorities to call in the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI bomb technicians as well as a hazardous material team. A preliminary investigation appeared to rule out a theory that Al-Maliki may have been looking for weaknesses in security or was rehearsing for a terrorist act, federal and local law enforcement authorities said. During questioning, Al-Maliki said the objects in his rectum were used to alleviate stress, federal law enforcement sources said. The rock, authorities said he told them, was from another planet. As Al-Maliki was being detained, his two bags were loaded on to US Airways Flight 1422, which took off for Philadelphia with 143 passengers and six crew members on board, said Liz Landau, a spokeswoman for the airline. Federal officials said the bags had been checked for explosives, chemicals and other hazardous materials using the most modern and extensive screening devices available. Even so, they diverted the aircraft to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas "out of an abundance of caution." There, passengers were taken off the plane, which was parked away from the terminal. Passengers had to leave their carry-on bags aboard, and the plane and their luggage were searched, Landau said. Federal officials also said a search of Al-Maliki's luggage turned up nothing "hazardous or illegal." "Based on our investigation, there was no threat to Los Angeles International Airport or the airports in Las Vegas or Philadelphia," said Ethel McGuire, the FBI assistant special agent in charge of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Airport police briefly blocked access to roads leading to LAX and diverted vehicle traffic. But no other flights were disrupted at the airport, and Terminal 1, the building used by Southwest Airlines and US Airways, remained open. After several hours of questioning, the FBI determined that Al-Maliki had not committed a crime, but he was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At Tuesday afternoon's news conference, authorities said that Al-Maliki had been in the United States legally since 1994 but that federal officials were reviewing his immigration status because he may have outdated information on his green card. Law enforcement sources said Al-Maliki previously served time in jail for criminal trespassing in Atlantic City. In addition, he was arrested on suspicion of possession of a destructive device, but the sources said charges were dropped; details of the incident were unavailable. A law enforcement source close to the investigation said Al-Maliki spent only a day in Los Angeles, arriving Monday afternoon after taking a flight from Philadelphia. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-03-07 17:02 |
| #21 It is called "probing". |
| Posted by: Neville Ulagum3749 2007-03-07 16:13 |
| #20 "Stay glued to your chair, Fadhel." Finding glue unsatisfactory, Mr. al-Maliki (probably no close relation to that al-Maliki) decided to try magnetism. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-03-07 13:55 |
| #19 some iraqi dude w/a magnet up his ass? typical. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 in Iraq 2007-03-07 13:09 |
| #18 Hey, boss. Did you hear about this? |
| Posted by: Richard Geres Gerbil 2007-03-07 11:16 |
| #17 Ok, here goes.... Ya got a magnet up yer arse, or are ya glad to see me? /incredibly bad form |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-03-07 11:04 |
| #16 Hmmm. I submitted that once, and got a "too many clients...unable to connect" (or sumpin like that warning), so I submitted it again. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2007-03-07 11:04 |
#15 It reminds me of this. There's a link to the original Lancet article on that blog, but they wanted you to register, and I ain't gonna:
Of course, it is from the Lancet, so add salt to taste. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2007-03-07 11:02 |
#14 It reminds me of this. There's a link to the original Lancet article on that blog, but they wanted you to register, and I ain't gonna:
Of course, it is from the Lancet, so add salt to taste. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2007-03-07 11:02 |
| #13 They just caught one a couple of months ago with a mobile up his ass. I guess these folk need something to make them feel normal until they can get to the mosque. |
| Posted by: KBK 2007-03-07 10:50 |
| #12 "An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a |
| Posted by: John 2007-03-07 10:10 |
| #11 Maybe he just swallowed a fork. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-03-07 09:53 |
| #10 Prostate trouble. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-03-07 09:45 |
| #9 Being that near to Hollyweird, though, I actually can't believe a simple magnet up the bum even got attention! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-03-07 09:24 |
| #8 That one involved a probe all right. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-03-07 08:56 |
| #7 I can't wait for the explanation for this one... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-07 08:51 |
| #6 And yet they didn't pull his luggage from the plane, according to the news stories I saw. Excuse me? |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-03-07 07:50 |
| #5 rugby tour? |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2007-03-07 07:41 |
| #4 *boggle* |
| Posted by: MacNails 2007-03-07 07:31 |
| #3 He dunnit for Britney! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-03-07 07:10 |
| #2 An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum.. no doubt an arse crystal set..doesn't everyone listen to muzic from the spheroids? |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-07 06:58 |
| #1 Probe. Surely madmen don't habitually secrete magnets up their bums. I hope he was arrested, and will be prosecuted, for whatever's the legal equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-03-07 06:48 |