Eyewitnesses: 2 arrested in Christmas flight terror

From WorldNetDaily

'How stupid do you think the American public is?' By Chelsea Schilling Posted: December 31, 2009 ~ 11:20 pm Eastern © 2010 WorldNetDaily Several passengers aboard the Christmas Day flight to Detroit where a Nigerian man attempted to blow up the airplane say a second passenger was arrested after the foiled terrorist attack – and they suggested other men may have played roles as well. Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., and his wife, Lori, claim they were aboard Flight 253 as they returned from a safari in Uganda, seated only a few rows behind suspected attacker Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a man who admitted to affiliation with the terrorist group al-Qaida. Haskell presented a boarding pass to Michigan Live to show that he had been a passenger on the plane. Kurt and Lori Haskell, both U.S. attorneys with Haskell Law Firm in Taylor, Mich., told the newspaper that prior to the flight they were seated on the floor near the boarding gate in Amsterdam when Abdulmutallab approached the gate with another "Indian man" who was dressed in an expensive suit. Kurt Haskell told Michigan Live the unidentified man in the suit approached ticket agents and asked them if Abdulmutallab could board without a passport, and he tried to convince them Abdulmutallab was a Sudanese refugee. "The guy said, 'He's from Sudan and we do this all the time,'" Haskell told the newspaper. But Dutch security officials claim Abdulmutallab was carrying a valid Nigerian passport and U.S. visa, according to CBS News. Charlie Keepman of Oconomowoc, Wis., told the Detroit News that his daughter, Ricki, saw yet another man videotaping the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, including the episode when Abdulmutallab purportedly attempted to set off explosive chemicals in his underwear. Following the foiled terrorist attack, Haskell said passengers were corralled into a small, evacuated luggage claim area of an airport terminal. Then, he says, bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in. "During this time period, all of the passengers had their carry-on bags with them," he wrote in a posting on MLive.com. "When the bomb sniffing dogs arrived, one dog found something in a carry-on bag of a 30-ish Indian man." Haskell explained that the second "Indian" man was not the same well-dressed person who assisted Abdulmutallab in boarding the flight. He said this man wore orange clothing. "The man in orange, who stood some 20ft away from me the entire time until he was taken away, was immediately taken away to be searched and interrogated in a nearby room," Haskell explained. "At this time, he was not handcuffed. When he emerged from the room, he was then handcuffed and taken away." Immediately after the questioning, Haskell said an FBI agent approached the remaining passengers and, referring to the man in orange, said, "You all are being moved to another area because this area is not safe. I am sure many of you saw what just happened and are smart enough to read between the lines and figure it out." READ FULL STORY >