Businessman 'transformed' into Al-Qaeda suspect

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 09:35:13 +0530 (IST)
From: N Sashikumar <sashi () civil iisc ernet in>
Subject: Businessman 'transformed' into Al-Qaeda suspect
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>

Dear Prof Dave,
 The following appeared in India's National Newspaper "The Hindu"
-sashi

http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/13/stories/2004011306731100.htm
Chennai businessman 'transformed' into Al-Qaeda suspect

By Praveen Swami


NEW DELHI, JAN. 12. One of the world's most expensive anti-terror
investigations has dissolved into farce. Abdul Haye Mohammad Illyas, who
United States and French intelligence officials believed could be a top
Al-Qaeda operative, has been established to be an unassuming Chennai-based
businessman, with no known links to either Islamist terrorism or criminal
activity of any other kind.

Mr. Illyas, who has now become internationally famous by his first two
names, came to the notice of U.S. intelligence when he failed to show up
for an Air France Paris-Los Angeles flight on December 24, 2003. Since his
first two names matched those of an Al-Qaeda operative U.S. intelligence
has been searching for since 2002, Maulvi Abdul Hai, Mr. Illyas' name was
picked up by Central Intelligence Agency computers which scan airline
passenger manifests.

On learning that Mr. Illyas had failed to show up, the U.S. Government
advised Air France to cancel several transcontinental flights on Christmas
eve. Heightened security measures were put in place across the U.S. "There
was complete chaos at the airport," says Beijing-based journalist Jehangir
Pocha, who happened to be flying out of the U.S. on December 24, "and the
fact that I had an Iranian stamp on my passport didn't help matters!"

Soon after the December 24 alert, U.S. intelligence agencies requested
their Indian counterparts for information on Mr. Illyas. 's investigation
has found that Indian officials verified his antecedents within hours. Mr.
Illyas was found to be a regular traveller on the Paris-Los Angeles route,
and had visited the U.S. before in connection with his leather goods
business. He holds passport number E-4411448, issued in Chennai on March
18, 2003. Born on January 31, 1961, Mr. Illyas' passport records his
address as 1096, EVR Periyar Salai in Chennai.

For reasons that are not clear, this information was not enough to satisfy
the U.S.' anti-terror organisations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation,
which has an office in New Delhi, neither formally asked India for
permission to question Mr. Illyas, nor for him to be detained. Indian
authorities heard nothing further on the affair until January 7, when Air
France notified French and U.S. authorities that Mr. Illyas had another
booking for a Paris-Los Angeles flight four days later. The full police
drill was put in place again. Yet again, Mr. Illyas failed to show up for
the flight, or the next departure.

Several elements of the handling of Mr. Illyas' case are, to put it
mildly, opaque. First, it is unclear why the U.S. notified only the French
authorities of Mr. Illyas' movements, and not their Indian counterparts.
"If he was a terrorist, surely he would have posed as much danger to the
Mumbai-Paris flight as to the Paris-Los Angeles flight," a Western
diplomat in New Delhi noted. Indian airport authorities were not requested
to detain Mr. Illyas, or even to give a particularly thorough security
check. Nor did Mr. Illyas have checked-in baggage, which could at least
have been some ground for suspicion.

Nor is it clear why the mere names `Abdul' and `Hai' in conjunction would
trigger a massive terror alert. A cursory search of telephone directories
by for these names and their phonetic variants threw up several dozen
hits. Moreover, common sense suggests that a top Taliban leader who
acquires a fake Indian passport is unlikely to have his own name entered
in it. "It would seem the U.S. anti-terrorism set-up," one expert told ,
"is not very culturally attuned. After all, no one would set off a major
terror alert just because a passenger called Mr. Jones or Mr. Smith
figured on a passenger manifest."

At least some impute motives to the U.S. handling of the affair. "If I was
Mr. Illyas," said the Western diplomat, "I would consider my travel plans
carefully. If he is detained, he might just end up in Guantanamo Bay,
innocent or not." Police and intelligence officials connected with the
case told that Mr. Illyas had no record of involvement with Islamist
groups. Indian intelligence officials say several members of Mr. Illyas'
concern, which is family-owned, bear the same first names.

Vaiju Naravane reports from Paris:

French authorities say they are aware of two persons called "Abdul Haye."
One was born in 1961 and the other a year later. One of them is said to
have a home in Los Angeles, according to French press reports.

On January 7, officials at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport told police
that an Indian citizen called "Abdul Haye" was due to arrive on a
Mumbai-Paris flight and then connect to the flight for Los Angeles. He
failed to show up.

A passenger with the same name failed to show up on Christmas-eve for the
Air France Paris-Los Angeles flight AF 068 resulting in the cancellation
of all six daily flights run by Air France between the two cities.

The cancellations took place because the FBI said it feared a terrorist
attack bigger than the one against the World Trade Center on September 11,
2001, and gave out certain "suspect" names. "Abdul Haye" was one of them.

Our Special Correspondent reports from Chennai:

Enquiries reveal that "Abdul Haye" is a bona fide leather exporter, who
functioned out of both Chennai and Mumbai. He was not in office today. He
is a frequent traveller, both within the country and abroad.

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