Guardian: Terror suspect turned out to be a Welsh insurance agent

[Bozita]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1115281,00.html

Terror suspect turned out to be a Welsh insurance agent

Paul Webster in Paris and Owen Bowcott
Saturday January 3, 2004
The Guardian

French irritation over US controls on transatlantic flights was reinforced yesterday when the interior ministry revealed that American intelligence based its suspicions on passengers' surnames only.

This led to a child with a name similar to a Tunisian terrorist, a Welsh insurance agent and an elderly Chinese woman restaurant owner being questioned by counter-terrorist police when several flights from Paris to the US were cancelled shortly before Christmas.

Three other "suspects" who were questioned were French citizens with Arab-sounding names.

All the suspects' names, supplied by the US, were found merely to be homonyms - similar in sound or spelling to those of wanted al-Qaida activists.

more...

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

1. I can understand conidering an insurance salesman as a terrorist...

:evilgrin:

[punpirate]

2. Sounds too much like the Florida felon-purging list....

Wonder if ChoicePoint has a government contract to weed out terrorists from flight manifests....

[Webster Green]

3. Why are they so paranoid?

I thought we were all much safer after they pulled Sadaam out of his spider hole.

[proud patriot]

4. surnames ?..oh good grief

:eyes:

[jonoboy]

5. keystone cops !!..and we feel safer??

[izzie]

6. Right on. Insurance and terror are almost the same.

n/t

[mouse7]

7. Ally Sheedy captured, detained at Guantanamo Bay

Brat Pack actress Ally Sheedy was arrested and detained at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay and held as an enemy combatant

Well, the name sounds like Ali... she's obviously aiding Al-Queda." Said Att'y Gen. Ashcroft.

[T_i_B]

8. I can see it now...

...The Welsh liberation front! :eyes:

Has to be said though, the dodgy surnames bit is just a tad racist.

[0007]

9. The Three Stooges

John Ashcroft
Donald Rumsfeld
Tom Ridge

[J B]

10. Hey, the EU agreed to turn over passenger lists.

Now that the lists are being used like this they can only blame themselves.

[Benhurst]

11. Were they able to determine whether the elderly Chinese

woman restaurant owner had been using MSG at her establishment?

[ScrewyRabbit]

12. Name matching is the best intelligence we have to go on?

Boy, I hope no terrorist thinks of using a false name that doesn't sound anything like his real name. We'd be doomed!

[Gman]

13. Then they can basicly do this any time they want to

because every day there has to be people with similar sounding name that are flying everywhere in the country and into the country.

[saltpoint]

14. So it's the Welsh!

I KNEW they were behind this! Craven bastards! Time for a little Shock'n'Awe in the U K.