Sneaker bomb suspect described

12/29/2001

By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON — For an unemployed ex-con, Richard C. Reid got around. In recent months, he flew to Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Paris. Then, on a flight to Miami last weekend, authorities say he tried to ignite a homemade bomb hidden in his sneakers that could have blown a hole in the jumbo jet.

On Friday, a judge ordered the British-born Reid held without bail, saying the 28-year-old poses a flight risk and a risk to the public.

``He acted with callous disregard for the safety of others, and, in fact, appears to have intended to cause them all serious harm, if not death,'' U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein said.

Little is known about the 6-foot-4 suspect, who flight attendants and passengers overpowered after he allegedly lit a match and tried to ignite his shoes thousands of feet above the Atlantic Ocean during the Dec. 22 flight.

Of English and Jamaican descent, Reid has ``essentially no verifiable address anywhere in the world, Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Owyang said at the hearing Friday.

Owyang said Reid had been living in Paris hotels and has no known friends or relatives in the United States. He also had no work visa or immigration papers. Authorities have said Reid used cash to buy the ticket on the American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami.

In denying bail, Dein said Reid posed a flight risk because he had told investigators he had lived most of his life in Europe at various locations for short periods of time. He also told investigators he was never ``officially'' employed, but has worked as a construction worker and kitchen helper for restaurants and construction companies in Europe.

The judge said Reid also has had 13 convictions for theft, as well as at least three other convictions for other crimes.

Federal investigators also have been trying to determine whether Reid had any ties to terrorist groups, though his attorney has said there is no proof of any terrorist connections, and the issue did not come up at the bail hearing.

Officials in Israel, France, the United States and the Netherlands have been retracing Reid's travels ahead of his arrest a week ago.

Last summer, officials for Israel's El Al airline said, Reid was put through a body check and told to remove his shoes for special screening before he was allowed to board an El Al plane. Even after no explosives were found, the airline considered Reid a top security risk and seated him next to an armed sky marshal in the second to last row, far from the cockpit, said an Israeli source.

Reid spent five days in Israel, then traveled to Egypt. From there, he apparently returned to Europe on a commercial flight, the Israeli Maariv daily said Friday.

Officials also have confirmed that Reid attended the same London mosque as Zacarias Moussaoui, who is charged with conspiracy in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Reid's attorney Tamar Birckhead said she was unaware of any evidence linking Reid to terrorists.

Reid is charged with interfering with a flight crew through intimidation or assault, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence, but the FBI has indicated that additional counts are likely.

FBI Special Agent Margaret Cronin testified that the FBI had determined Reid was carrying ``functioning improvised explosives'' ... ``in layman's terms, a homemade bomb.''

Associated Press reporter John Solomon contributed to this report from Washington.