Nigeriaan had hulp van 'wealthy Indian man'

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Volgens de Telegraaf (pag. 3) heeft de 'Indian man' meerdere
nationaliteiten en is leidingevende van een bedrijf op Schiphol'

Groet / Cees
bericht 721/09

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091230/NEWS06/912300364/1318/FBI-probes-account-of-Michigan-couple&template=fullarticle
FBI probes account of Michigan couple in Flight 253 case
Agents question whether suspect had help

BY NAOMI R. PATTON and BEN SCHMITT
U.S. federal agents and Dutch counter-terrorism officials are
investigating whether a second man helped the Nigerian bombing suspect get
on the flight to Detroit on Friday without a passport, as a man from
Newport, Mich., said he saw before he boarded the flight.

Lori Haskell said that FBI agents spoke with her and her husband, Kurt,
Tuesday morning after the two spoke to news media outlets about Kurt
Haskell's account that he saw an older, well-dressed Indian man help
suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in his effort to board the flight in
Amsterdam, Netherlands, without a passport.

The Reuters news service reported Tuesday that Dutch military police and
Holland's national counter-terrorism agency NCTb were reviewing
closed-circuit video and any other evidence that might corroborate Kurt
Haskell's account. Sandra Berchtold, an FBI spokeswoman in Detroit,
referred all news media inquiries to the Department of Justice in
Washington, D.C. A spokesman there declined to comment.

Lori Haskell said she was questioned for about 10 minutes and recognized a
photo of the suspect from several that agents showed her. She said her
husband was interviewed for at least an hour.

She said they were interviewed separately at their law offices in Taylor.

By phone Saturday, Kurt Haskell, 38, told the Free Press he first noticed
Abdulmutallab at the airline ticket counter in Amsterdam.

He and his wife, both lawyers returning from a two-week safari in Uganda,
were sitting near the counter playing cards.

Haskell said he saw the suspect, "who looked like he was 16 or 17, short,
really thin, looked like he was poor," wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

"He caught my eye because of who he was traveling with": a wealthy looking
well-dressed Indian man in his 50s.

The Indian man, Haskell said, told the ticket agent that the younger man
"needs to board the plane, but he doesn't have a passport. ... He's from
Sudan. We do this all the time."

Abdulmutallab is actually from Nigeria and was traveling on a visa,
American authorities confirmed Tuesday.

According to Kurt Haskell, the ticket agent told the older man he would
have to speak with a manager, and was directed to another area to speak to
one.

Lori Haskell said she did not witness the alleged exchange or see the
people involved because she was too busy trying to beat her husband at the
card game.

Once on board, sitting in seats 27H and 27J, the Haskells said they saw
the smoke and flames when Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to detonate a
powdered substance from row 19.

"Every passenger on that flight was interviewed by authorities," U.S.
Attorney Terrence Berg said Tuesday. "Certainly the statements of all the
passengers are taken seriously." He declined to make further comment.

Susan Chana Elliott, a spokeswoman for Delta, would not comment on Kurt
Haskell's account. Northwest is a subsidiary of Delta.

Elliott said Delta Air Lines staff followed procedure in fully reporting
passenger information before the plane took off, and "Delta is in full
compliance with all government regulations regarding passenger information
transmission."

Elliott added that she could not confirm that a male Sudanese refugee was
on Flight 253 on Friday.

Michael Wildes, a Manhattan-based immigration attorney and a former
federal prosecutor out of Brooklyn, said the allegations of Abdulmutallab
boarding without a passport are disturbing.

"The truth is that post 9/11, we are still shocked at some of the
practices that flights and airlines permit," he said. "Clearly, if the
airline wanted to bring him in without a passport, they would be
accountable to the government."

Only U.S. citizens can board international flights to the United States
without passports -- but only after the air carrier otherwise confirms
their identity and citizenship, said Chief Ron Smith, spokesman for U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol in Detroit.

Smith added that a refugee trying to fly to the United States from another
country would also have to have proof of an application for asylum or
refugee status, proof of citizenship and identifying documents before the
plane could take off.

Smith said that, had there been a Sudanese refugee on the plane, "We would
be aware of it."

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