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Suspect in Terror Plot Released in Yemen, Officials Say Plotters Stole Her ID

By Adam Nichols | October 31, 2010 11:47am | Updated on November 1, 2010 6:38am
Yemeni security forces stand guard outside a UPS store after the failed plot to mail explosives to the U.S.
Yemeni security forces stand guard outside a UPS store after the failed plot to mail explosives to the U.S.
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AP Photo

By Ben Fractenberg, Della Hasselle and Michael Ventura

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — A woman arrested in Yemen for mailing bombs to the U.S. was released on bail Sunday amid suspicion she had her identity stolen by the plotters.

Hanane al-Samawi, 22, was arrested Saturday after a plot that sparked a global terror alert that included a military jet escort  for a plane flying into John F. Kennedy Airport.

Investigators traced the woman through a telephone number she left with a shipping company, the Daily News reported.

But officials now think it was a case of "stolen identity by an individual who knew the detained suspect's full name, address and telephone number," a source told ABC News.

Passengers disembark an Emirates airliner into an awaiting bus at John F. Kennedy International Airport, after having been escorted from the Canadian border by two military fighter jets. U.S. officials said there is no known threat associated with the plane, but it was being escorted to JFK as a precautionary move. Authorities on Friday were investigating whether suspicious packages shipped aboard cargo planes from Yemen to the U.S. were part of a terrorist plot.
Passengers disembark an Emirates airliner into an awaiting bus at John F. Kennedy International Airport, after having been escorted from the Canadian border by two military fighter jets. U.S. officials said there is no known threat associated with the plane, but it was being escorted to JFK as a precautionary move. Authorities on Friday were investigating whether suspicious packages shipped aboard cargo planes from Yemen to the U.S. were part of a terrorist plot.
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AP Photo/WABC-TV

Yemeni authorities are still hunting other suspects that they believe used forged documents and ID cards in a scheme to bomb U.S. targets and at least one plane.

The woman, in her 20s, is reportedly a student, the News said.

"Her acquaintances tell me that she is a quiet student and there was no knowledge of her having involvement in any religious or political groups," her attorney told Reuters.

Two bombs were found aboard planes — one in the United Kingdom and the other in Dubai.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the British one was intended to detonate in mid-air.

"I can confirm the device was viable and could have exploded," British Home Secretary Theresa May said.

The other bomb is thought to have been intended for a Chicago synagogue.

Airline carrier Qatar Airways confirmed on its website that one of the packages had been flown between Yemen and Dubai on one of their planes.

The discovery on Friday led to searches for other suspicious packages in cargo planes at airports in Newark and Philadelphia.

A UPS truck at MetroTech, Brooklyn, was also searched, causing the Manhattan Bridge and part of Flatbush Avenue to be shut down. Two packages — envelopes from Yemen — were found and cleared as safe by authorities.

Concerns about cargo from Yemen that was believed to be on the Emirates Flight 201 in John F. Kennedy airport led to the decision by Canadian and US military forces to send jets to escort the plane, James Brennan, a presidential aide for homeland security and counter-terrorism, said at a press conference Friday.

Security in New York was noticeably ramped up after the plot.

"There are more agents walking around the terminal, looking over everything," Amarindar Singh, 34, A Long Island doctor, told the News as he waited for a flight From JFK to India Saturday.

A printer toner cartridge packed with wires and white powder that was found on board a plane at East Midlands airport, in the UK.
A printer toner cartridge packed with wires and white powder that was found on board a plane at East Midlands airport, in the UK.
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AP Photo/CBS News

"I'm glad they're here."

"The only thing the pilot said was there was heightened security," Louis Kelley, 59, from Connecticut, who was a passenger on Flight 201, told DNAinfo.

"I travel 110 days a year. My wife told me we're going to have a long talk."