INDIA/ NETHERLANDS: Dutch authorities release all twelve men arrested in a security alert on a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to India.

Dutch authorities will release all 12 passengers arrested on a U.S. Northwest Airlines plane bound for India on Wednesday after concluding they were not planning an attack, officials said on Thursday (August 24, 2006). Two Dutch fighter planes escorted Northwest Airlines flight 42 to Mumbai back to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday (August 23) after the pilot reported passengers behaving suspiciously. Passengers on the plane said air marshals intervened after the men began fidgeting with mobile phones and plastic bags. Anxious relatives and friends of the passengers delayed by the security alert waited at Mumbai Airport for the Northwest Flight 42 to arrive. Leena Dharne, a relative of one of the passengers said: "Even though they are coming 24 hours late, they are safe and that is most important to me." Passengers from the flight described the incident. Karan Singh said: "I was right at the back, I was actually sleeping when this happened and they said there was some security problem and then we got down and for two hours we were there and then we went to the airport, and I am here now." Kiran Dalal added: "There were three US marshalls on the plans and one of them was sitting next to my husband and when they said there was something suspicious they immediately ran and took out their guns and ran to where these people were. They announced that we were turning back, they didn't tell us anything about why they were turning back, but we knew that something was wrong. "So we turned, then a lot of Dutch police came they took them all in handcuffs. Eleven of them were taken. There was one more; he was like a hippy, a white guy. But all the others were Asian, brown skinned. All 11 were taken in handcuffs because of some suspicious activity in the plane and that's all we know." Back in Netherlands, prosecution spokesman Ed Hartjes told a news conference the crew had raised the alarm after the men handed each other mobile phones and laptops during the flight and refused to follow their instructions. Investigators examined the men's mobile phones in case they had been manipulated to cause an explosion and searched for explosives on the plane, but found none. "No evidence could be brought forward that these men were about to commit an act of violence. Therefore the decision has been made to release the men tonight," he added. Security has been increased at airports worldwide in the past two weeks after British police said they had foiled a plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic using liquid explosives. Mumbai has been on high alert since commuter train bombings on July 11 that killed 186 people. An Indian Foreign Ministry official said all were of Indian origin, although some apparently held other passports. Dutch authorities granted consular access to the Indian nationals.

ITN Source | August 25, 2006

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