Harris eng
25th Oct 2001, 22:54
THURSDAY OCTOBER 25 2001
Business-class suspect caught in container
ITALIAN
police were investigating last night why a suspected
al-Qaeda hijacker would smuggle himself halfway around the
world locked inside a shipping container with its own bed
and toilet.
The bizarre discovery of an Egyptian carrying a Canadian
passport was made on the dockside in Gioia Tauro in southern
Italy, where detectives believe they may have foiled another
hijacking.
They were questioning Rizik Amid Farid, 43, about his choice
of travel and why he was carrying airport maps and airside
security passes for Canada, Thailand and Egypt.
Unlike most stowaways they find, Mr Farid was smartly
dressed, clean-shaven and rested as he stepped from his
makeshift home.
He was, his captors said, "stunned" to be found with a
laptop computer, two mobile phones, cameras, a Canadian
passport, other identity documents and a certificate saying
he is an aircraft mechanic.
Mr Farid was found last week but it was only yesterday that
police admitted their curious discovery.
Roberto Di Palma, a prosecutor, said: "He was in possession
of documents and apparatus that no ordinary illegal
immigrant would have been able to afford. The average
illegal immigrant does not have high-tech equipment and
airport security passes. The FBI has been alerted to the
discovery of Mr Farid.
Like the 19 hijackers that al-Qaeda used on September 11, Mr
Farid's name is not on Interpol's wanted list.
The successful capture of this suspected hijacker is timely
for the Italians after the admission that they had allowed
nine Islamic militants to abscond from bail after a legal
bungle.
Police said Mr Farid was finding it difficult to explain why
he was carrying a return airline ticket from Montreal to
Egypt, via Rome. Investigators said that could be an
"insurance policy" enabling him to reach Canada by air in
case he was discovered on the ship but managed to escape.
The priority now, police said, was to authenticate his
identity and discover why he was heading for Canada. Had he
not been found during a security check, Mr Farid would have
faced another three weeks at sea to reach Toronto.
Mr Farid was discovered during a "technical inspection" of a
ship from Port Said that had docked at the container port of
Gioia Tauro.
The container in which Mr Farid had been hidden was "very
tidy and well appointed", investigators said. It was
furnished with supplies for a long journey and had a bucket
which he used as a toilet.
Magistrates said they were considering a charge of "links
with international terrorism", a new offence introduced last
week as part of an emergency anti-terrorism package passed
by Parliament after the attacks of September 11.
Il Messaggero, the Rome daily, said it was a "reasonable
inference" that his intention had been to gain admittance to
an airport in Canada and perhaps commandeer an aircraft with
the help of accomplices and fly it over the border to the
United States.
Michele Filippo Italiano, Mr Farid's lawyer, denied that. He
said Mr Farid lived in Montreal and had Canadian
citizenship. "He had fallen out with his brother-in-law in
Cairo and feared he would be prevented from leaving Egypt,"
he said.
Business-class suspect caught in container
ITALIAN
police were investigating last night why a suspected
al-Qaeda hijacker would smuggle himself halfway around the
world locked inside a shipping container with its own bed
and toilet.
The bizarre discovery of an Egyptian carrying a Canadian
passport was made on the dockside in Gioia Tauro in southern
Italy, where detectives believe they may have foiled another
hijacking.
They were questioning Rizik Amid Farid, 43, about his choice
of travel and why he was carrying airport maps and airside
security passes for Canada, Thailand and Egypt.
Unlike most stowaways they find, Mr Farid was smartly
dressed, clean-shaven and rested as he stepped from his
makeshift home.
He was, his captors said, "stunned" to be found with a
laptop computer, two mobile phones, cameras, a Canadian
passport, other identity documents and a certificate saying
he is an aircraft mechanic.
Mr Farid was found last week but it was only yesterday that
police admitted their curious discovery.
Roberto Di Palma, a prosecutor, said: "He was in possession
of documents and apparatus that no ordinary illegal
immigrant would have been able to afford. The average
illegal immigrant does not have high-tech equipment and
airport security passes. The FBI has been alerted to the
discovery of Mr Farid.
Like the 19 hijackers that al-Qaeda used on September 11, Mr
Farid's name is not on Interpol's wanted list.
The successful capture of this suspected hijacker is timely
for the Italians after the admission that they had allowed
nine Islamic militants to abscond from bail after a legal
bungle.
Police said Mr Farid was finding it difficult to explain why
he was carrying a return airline ticket from Montreal to
Egypt, via Rome. Investigators said that could be an
"insurance policy" enabling him to reach Canada by air in
case he was discovered on the ship but managed to escape.
The priority now, police said, was to authenticate his
identity and discover why he was heading for Canada. Had he
not been found during a security check, Mr Farid would have
faced another three weeks at sea to reach Toronto.
Mr Farid was discovered during a "technical inspection" of a
ship from Port Said that had docked at the container port of
Gioia Tauro.
The container in which Mr Farid had been hidden was "very
tidy and well appointed", investigators said. It was
furnished with supplies for a long journey and had a bucket
which he used as a toilet.
Magistrates said they were considering a charge of "links
with international terrorism", a new offence introduced last
week as part of an emergency anti-terrorism package passed
by Parliament after the attacks of September 11.
Il Messaggero, the Rome daily, said it was a "reasonable
inference" that his intention had been to gain admittance to
an airport in Canada and perhaps commandeer an aircraft with
the help of accomplices and fly it over the border to the
United States.
Michele Filippo Italiano, Mr Farid's lawyer, denied that. He
said Mr Farid lived in Montreal and had Canadian
citizenship. "He had fallen out with his brother-in-law in
Cairo and feared he would be prevented from leaving Egypt,"
he said.