An innocent Indian leather garment exporter has been named as the man at the centre of a terrorism scare on trans-Atlantic flights.
Abdul Haye Mohammad Illyas, who is based in Madras, has business interests in the US and Europe, which frequently requires air travel, Indian investigators said.
The confusion began when Illyas was picked out by US intelligence as a possible match for al-Qaeda member, Moulvi Abdul Hai, after booking on an Air France Paris-Los Angeles flight on December 24 2004.
After he failed to show for the flight, it was cancelled at the request of Washington due to fears of an attack. He then booked on the same flight leaving Paris, January 11 2004 and again failed to turn up.
According to the Indian Express newspaper, Illyas had won tickets for frequent flights between Paris-Los Angeles and had randomly chosen December 24 without fully intending on using the tickets. He was unaware of the panic surrounding his activities.
Global air security has been stepped up in recent weeks after US intelligence reported that al-Qaeda may be planning aircraft suicide attacks similar to those carried out on September 11 2001.
