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CNN Live Sunday

Kerim Chatty Likely to Be Charged Monday

Aired September 01, 2002 - 18:05   ET

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

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: A Monday hearing is scheduled for Kerim Chatty. He's the Swedish man held on suspicion of planning to hijack an airplane. He was arrested last week after a gun was found in his carry-on bag. Members of his family deny any link to terrorism.
CNN's Diana Muriel picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under lock and key. Here at Vasteras police station, 29-year-old Kerim Chatty remains in police custody, following his arrest on Thursday after he attempted to board a plane with a loaded gun in his hand luggage.

Swedish police are scrambling Sunday to meet a legal deadline of midday Monday when they must charge the suspect or let him go. Swedish police sources say it's likely he'll be charged with attempted hijacking and illegal possession of a firearm. Swedish authorities are investigating possible terrorist links, but say they do not believe Chatty was part of the al Qaeda network.

Chatty, a Swedish national of Tunisian origin, has denied through his lawyer, Nils Uggla, that he was attempting to hijack a Boeing 737 800 flight from Vasteras to London's Stanstead Airport.

NILS UGGLA, CHATTY'S LAWYER: He admits that he has had a gun, and nothing else. He had not tried to or wanted to hijack the aircraft, or make some terrorist attack.

MURIEL: Swedish authorities have denied earlier reports the suspect was planning to crash the aircraft into a U.S. embassy somewhere in Europe, or that they are looking for four other men connected with the plan.

(on camera): This small airport, 100 kilometers, about an hour west of Stockholm, was already in a state of heightened alert when Chatty was arrested here. As the first anniversary of the September 11 hijack attacks on the United States approaches, airports around the world are on their guard.

And as more details emerge about Chatty's past, there are disturbing similarities with the September 11 hijackers.

(voice-over): Chatty is understood to have attended pilot school in the United States, at the North American Institute of Aviation in Conway, South Carolina. He did not complete the course, training to fly small aircraft, although Swedish authorities say it's possible he finished his training elsewhere.

Swedish police say Chatty has a criminal record here -- misdemeanors, including theft and assault. Reports say he had recently become a devout Muslim, and police have confirmed he was traveling with a group to Britain to attend an Islamic conference in Birmingham when he was arrested.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Vasteras, Sweden.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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