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Air Security Fears

Aired January 07, 2004 - 10:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: French authorities confirm today that they're searching for a passenger who failed to show up for an Air France flight on Christmas Eve. It was one of six flights between Paris and L.A. that were canceled.
Our senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar joins us from London with the latest.

Sheila, hello.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Yes, we're hearing from the French justice minister today that French authorities, indeed authorities throughout Europe have embarked on a manhunt for a passenger who was booked for but failed to show up for that Christmas Eve flight from Paris to Los Angeles.

Now the name of the passenger is Abdul Hay, we are told by French intelligence sources. They say there is a man named Abbul Hay who was formerly very close to the chief of the Taliban's intelligence service, someone who was in fact captured by U.S. authorities in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and who then escaped U.S. custody. While it's not known whether passenger Abdul Hay is the same as former Afghanistan al Qaeda operative Abdul Hay, the fact that they have the same name and that no one seems to be able to find Abdul Hay now is raising a lot of suspicion -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Sheila, it would strike me odd that if this person did have an evil intent that he would travel under his real name.

MACVICAR: That's a very good question. It's not known, of course, what kind of passport he's carrying. He may be carrying a false European document of some kind. There's been some speculation by European intelligence sources that in fact he is not traveling under an Afghan passport, but some other kind of document.

We do know that there was a meeting held in Washington on January 3rd that brought together French intelligence and law enforcement officials with their American counterparts. And with the assistance of national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, they basically formulated a plan to try to figure out what happened on that Air France flight, going back and taking a closer look at the passengers who were booked but failed to show up. I'm told they came up with two to four names, and of those names, the only now outstanding is that of Abdul Hay.

Of course it's very common that sometimes names look alike, sound a lot alike, but in fact are different people, different ages. That's something the authorities can determine only by finding the Abdul Hay who was booked on that Air France flight.

KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar in London, thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 7, 2004 - 10:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: French authorities confirm today that they're searching for a passenger who failed to show up for an Air France flight on Christmas Eve. It was one of six flights between Paris and L.A. that were canceled.
Our senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar joins us from London with the latest.

Sheila, hello.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Yes, we're hearing from the French justice minister today that French authorities, indeed authorities throughout Europe have embarked on a manhunt for a passenger who was booked for but failed to show up for that Christmas Eve flight from Paris to Los Angeles.

Now the name of the passenger is Abdul Hay, we are told by French intelligence sources. They say there is a man named Abbul Hay who was formerly very close to the chief of the Taliban's intelligence service, someone who was in fact captured by U.S. authorities in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and who then escaped U.S. custody. While it's not known whether passenger Abdul Hay is the same as former Afghanistan al Qaeda operative Abdul Hay, the fact that they have the same name and that no one seems to be able to find Abdul Hay now is raising a lot of suspicion -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Sheila, it would strike me odd that if this person did have an evil intent that he would travel under his real name.

MACVICAR: That's a very good question. It's not known, of course, what kind of passport he's carrying. He may be carrying a false European document of some kind. There's been some speculation by European intelligence sources that in fact he is not traveling under an Afghan passport, but some other kind of document.

We do know that there was a meeting held in Washington on January 3rd that brought together French intelligence and law enforcement officials with their American counterparts. And with the assistance of national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, they basically formulated a plan to try to figure out what happened on that Air France flight, going back and taking a closer look at the passengers who were booked but failed to show up. I'm told they came up with two to four names, and of those names, the only now outstanding is that of Abdul Hay.

Of course it's very common that sometimes names look alike, sound a lot alike, but in fact are different people, different ages. That's something the authorities can determine only by finding the Abdul Hay who was booked on that Air France flight.

KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar in London, thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com