Air France cancels US flights amid terrorist fears

5.30pm


LOS ANGELES - Air France cancelled Christmas flights to Los Angeles today after US intelligence found the name of at least one person suspected of having links to terror groups appeared on passenger manifests and acted to avert possible September 11-style hijack attacks.

The move came just three days after the US government raised its terror alert to the second highest level and warned Americans there was a high risk militants might launch attacks around the Christmas holidays in the United States.

The US government passed on "credible, reliable reports" to France from the intelligence community that indicated that extremist groups were planning "near-term simultaneous attacks that would rival September 11," a US official said.

Air France said it had cancelled six departing and returning flights on December 24 and 25 at Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's request. US officials put foreign carriers under scrutiny as part of precautions to guard against another September 11-style attack, a Homeland Security official said.

French officials said some passengers had been prevented from boarding flights but there were no arrests.

"Of course. The Americans' big fear is a repeat of September 11," a French government source said when asked if US officials were concerned that militants from the al Qaeda group, blamed by Washington for the September 11 attacks, could hijack a flight.

US government officials said the passenger manifests on all US-bound international flights are compared against names on the watch lists that range from undesirable aliens to suspicious persons.

The names of one or more targeted individuals had appeared on the Air France passenger lists but media reports of the cancellations may have alerted them to avoid the flights, the US official said.

In December 2001 there was a security scare on a flight from Paris when Briton Richard Reid tried to ignite an explosive device hidden in his shoe during a flight to Miami. He was overpowered and later convicted in the attack attempt.

There have been several incidents involving Los Angeles airport in recent years, including a foiled plot to bomb it on New Year's Eve of 2000. On July 4, 2002, an Egyptian national opened fire at the El Al counter at LAX's international terminal, killing two people.

As Americans moved around the country to celebrate the holiday season there was also a security scare in New York.

The Delta Airlines terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport was evacuated this evening and departing Delta flights were grounded after a passenger set off a metal detector. The terminal reopened after about 90 minutes.

Air France said it had cancelled Los Angeles-bound flights AF068 and AF070 today and AF068 tomorrow. The return flights to Paris, AF069 today and AF071 and AF069 tomorrow, were also axed. Air France and Delta Airlines are code share partners.

US officials were speaking with officials from other nations to discuss international aviation security.

"As we have done with partners in the homeland we have also shared credible threat information with our international partners so that they can use it to enhance aviation security measures as a result of this threat," the US official said.

Raffarin asked Air France to cancel the Los Angeles flights based on information "gathered in the framework of Franco-American cooperation in the fight against terrorism."

Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge said on Sunday threat indicators were "perhaps greater now than at any point" since the 2001 attacks and stressed the need to guard against "al Qaeda's continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland."

Ridge said al Qaeda might try to use aircraft in new attacks -- as Osama bin Laden's global network of militants did to strike the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon more than two years ago, killing nearly 3000 people.

US officials attributed the warning to "credible sources," and ordered the colour-coded alert system raised to the second highest level, orange.

In Mexico City, agents searched a Los Angeles-bound plane today after receiving an anonymous bomb threat but found nothing. Security officials said the plane left on time.

- REUTERS