- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Richard
Reid, a Briton who trained with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in
Afghanistan,
was indicted on Wednesday for attempting to destroy an airliner with 197
people on board last month when he tried to ignite explosives in his
shoes.
-
- The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in
Massachusetts, said Reid, 28, had received training from al Qaeda, which
the United States has blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
-
- "Reid is charged as an al Qaeda-trained terrorist
who attempted to destroy American Airlines Flight 63 with explosive devices
concealed in his shoes," U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft told
a news conference in announcing the indictment.
-
- Reid was aboard American Airlines Flight 63 bound from
Paris to Miami on Dec. 22 when he was overpowered by passengers and crew.
The plane then landed in Boston, where he was taken into custody.
-
- The nine-count indictment charged Reid with attempted
murder, attempted homicide and attempted use of a weapon of mass
destruction
-- "a destructive device consisting of an explosive bomb in each of
his shoes."
-
- Other charges included placing an explosive device on
an aircraft, attempted destruction of aircraft, interfering with flight
crew members and flight attendants, using a destructive device during a
violent crime and attempted wrecking of a mass transportation
vehicle.
-
- A lawyer for Reid, Assistant Federal Public Defender
Tamar Birckhead, said the indictment "is merely an accusation, and
no more." She said Reid must be presumed innocent.
-
- "We note that the indictment does not allege that
any of the crimes charged were committed on behalf of or to further the
cause of al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization. We are aware of
no basis for such an allegation," she said in a statement issued in
Boston.
-
- REID FACES LIFE IN PRISON
-
- Reid faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if
convicted
on the charges. The next step in the case will be an arraignment, when
a plea typically is entered to the charges.
-
- Investigators have been trying to determine if Reid was
trying to follow up on the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks that killed
more than 3,000 people.
-
- Ashcroft and Justice Department officials declined to
give details about Reid's alleged training with al Qaeda. The indictment
only said it happened "at various times."
-
- Ashcroft declined to say if Reid was acting alone or
on al Qaeda's orders. He also declined to comment when asked whether Reid
had any accomplices.
-
- Ashcroft praised Americans for heeding a call made by
U.S. authorities after Sept. 11 to be more vigilant to help prevent future
attacks.
-
- "Reid's indictment alerts us to a clear,
unmistakable
threat that al Qaeda could attack the United States again," he
said.
-
- "We must be prepared, we must be alert, we must
be vigilant. Al Qaeda-trained terrorists may act on their own, or as part
of the terrorist network, but we must assume that they will act,"
Ashcroft said.
-
- CREW VIGILANT, PASSENGERS COURAGEOUS
-
- "But for the vigilance of the flight crew and the
courage of the passengers on Flight 63, Richard Reid may have succeeded
in what today's indictment charges was his ultimate goal -- the destruction
of Flight 63 and the 197 people on board," he said.
-
- The FBI said last month that preliminary tests showed
Reid's black athletic shoes contained enough of a powerful plastic
explosive
to blow a hole in the side of the plane.
-
- Reid worshiped at the same London mosque as Zacarias
Moussaoui, a Frenchman of Moroccan descent who is the only person charged
in the United States with being part of the Sept. 11 attacks. Moussaoui
is awaiting trial in Virginia.
-
- Reid has been ordered by a federal magistrate judge in
Boston to be held without bail.
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