Washington: The attempted terror attack
on a US plane by a suspected Nigerian al-Qaeda operative today
fell almost to the day eight years after another failed solo
attack on an international flight.
The attempt to blow up a US Airliner in air was foiled
today as alert passengers over-powered the Nigerian man in his
mission, described by officials as an attempted Christmas Day
terror attack.
The 23-year-old accused passenger Umar Farouk Abdul
Mudallab, an engineering student in London, tried to ignite an
incendiary device aboard the Northwest Airlines flight 253, an
Airbus 330, carrying 278 passengers from Amsterdam to Detroit,
in what was described as an "attempted act of terrorism" by
the White House.
The incident drew comparisons with the case of the
"shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who attempted to bomb a
trans-Atlantic flight in December 2001 by igniting explosives
smuggled aboard in his shoes.
As with the Reid case, just two months after the
September 11, 2001 attack, initial reports suggested
passengers were responsible for preventing a more serious
situation. The Reid incident sparked a drastic increase in
security on airplane flights.
Two months after 19 Islamist extremist hijacked
airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Centers, the
Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, Reid attempted to detonate
explosives hidden in his sneakers on an American Airlines
flight from Paris, France, to Miami, Florida. Passengers
thwarted his plan, and the plane landed safely in Boston,
Massachusetts.
Reid pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in October
2002 and is serving a jail sentence for life at the high
security prison in Florence, Colorado, the CNN said.
With 197 people on board, the American Airlines Flight 63 from
Paris to Miami was diverted to Boston on December 22, 2001,
after it was noticed that Reid was trying to light a fuse.
Passengers and crew subdued him by tying him to his seat and
administering a tranquilizer.
FBI bomb technicians and explosives experts found
explosives in Reid's shoes.
British citizen Reid, who had converted to Islam,
pleaded guilty to all eight counts against him -- including
attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted
homicide and placing an explosive device on an aircraft, the
report said.
PTI