A passenger with a name similar to a suspected al-Qaeda operative wanted by the United States failed to turn up for a flight from Paris to Los Angeles for the second time in three weeks. The passenger was booked on the Air France flight as "Abdul Haye", a name which bears a phonetic resemblance to that of a man whom US law enforcement officials believe is linked to al-Qaeda and spent time training in Afghanistan. A passenger with a reservation in this name also failed to show up on December 24 for an Air France flight to Los Angeles, which was ultimately cancelled due to fears of terrorism. France cancelled the flight at the request of the United States, which was concerned by the presence of certain names - including that of "Abdul Haye" - on the passenger list.
| Abdul Haye by this time probably has a new passport and he's working on memorizing his new name. Why do they put this stuff in the papers? |
On January 7, Paris airport officials and Air France told French police that an Indian citizen called "Abdul Haye" was expected to arrive in France on an Air France flight from Bombay. The sources added that this passenger was a regular on the Bombay-Paris and Paris-Los Angeles flights and had a reservation made in this name on the 1.35pm flight to Los Angeles. French police were waiting for "Abdul Haye" at Charles de Gaulle airport to check his identity and nationality and ask why he had failed to appear for the flight on December 24. But the man once again failed to appear for this flight, or for the later departure at 8pm. |