Dutch Minister Donner Says No Terrorist Threat On Flight 42

[deadparrot]

Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said on Thursday that there was no terrorist threat when a U.S. Northwest Airlines plane that was headed towards India had to be turned back around to Amsterdam because of security matters.

A Dutch counter-terrorism office spokeswoman quoted the Dutch minister as saying, "Up until now it does not appear to be terror related."

"There is no indication of a terrorist threat on the plane that returned to Schiphol."

Of the 149 passengers on the Northwest Airlines flight 42 bound for Mumbai, 12 were apprehended by police. The 12 flight passengers were toying with plastic bags and cell phones and appeared to be uneasy, so the concerned crew reported their suspicious activities.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=hein&btnG=Search+News

[ninkasi]

1. They probably were uneasy

considering the way any Muslim looking male is viewed with suspicion in the world today. I would be uneasy, too. It doesn't mean they're terrorists, it just means that people suspect them now. With all of the constant talk from Bush about "bad guys" who "lurk in the shadows" plotting nefarious schemes to stop freedom from spreading, because they are jealous of our freedoms, and wish to take them away. Staying scared is what the neocons want.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. The passengers in question were Indian,

along with many of the other passengers, since the flight was bound for Mumbai (Bombay). Therefore it can't be assumed either that they were Muslim or that anyone else on the flight assumed they were. In fact, they were more likely to have been Hindu, since Mumbai is in a predominantly Hindu part of India. It seems unlikely, under the circumstances, that these passengers were singled out for being "different" or obviouslt Muslim.

[ninkasi]

4. I wonder if the other passengers knew they were Indian?

Here in the U.S, at least, most people don't know the difference. If you've got brown skin, you're suspicious. Here in Texas, you might be considered first an illegal alien from Mexico or Central America. I'm trying to figure out whether the passengers would have reacted the same way if all of the people in question had blond hair and blue eyes.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Probably yes, since the other passengers were Indian, too.

[goodhue]

6. All 12 are Muslim

Don't know whether they were perceived as such, or as different from the many non-muslim South Asians on plane.

[Jeroen]

2. Picture of the 12 passengers

[struggle4progress]

7. No racial consideration behind plane incident: Dutch govt

New Delhi, Aug 26: Seeking to assuage India's anger over the detention of 12 Mumbai-based businessmen, The Netherlands today said there was no racial consideration behind the incident and that it was an "urgent preventive action" prompted by their "suspicious behaviour" in the plane.

A day after India lodged a strong protest over the detention and treatment of the Indians in Amsterdam, Dutch Ambassador Eric Niehe met Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry Shashi U Tripathi and his government's "understanding for the concerns" expressed by New Delhi.

In its formal response to New Delhi's demarche on the incident, the Dutch government "drew attention to the apparently suspicious behaviour of the 12 Indian passengers which appeared to require urgent preventive action.

"They have conveyed that as soon as investigations were completed within one-and-a-half days, the passengers were not only released from detention but the Dutch authorities facilitated their earliest possible return to India," an External Affairs Ministry press release said on the meeting between Niehe and Tripathi ... http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=318250&sid=NAT