Israel Matzav

Ethiopian Airlines 'interested' in report of bomb aboard crashed jet

On a stormy night in late January, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed on takeoff from Beirut International Airport. At the time, terrorism was ruled out as a cause of the crash, and the authorities attributed the crash to the weather.

Subsequently, it was disclosed that the crew had ignored control tower instructions and flown right into a storm cloud, and that a Hezbullah delegation was supposed to be on board the flight but never boarded.

The cause of the crash has never been determined, but Ethiopian Airlines is said to be 'interested' in reports that there was a bomb aboard the plane (Hat Tip: Will).

The "G2 Bulletin" Web site, which calls itself an independent online intelligence newsletter reports an operative of the group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula told interrogators the aircraft was destroyed by a suicide bomber trained in Yemen.

The operative is said to be among more than 100 terrorism suspects recently arrested in Saudi Arabia. He is reported to have told his captors the Beirut bomber trained in the same camp as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to set off a bomb in his underwear on a plane landing in Detroit on Christmas Day.

Ethiopian Airlines chief Girma Wake has been critical of what he called premature and misleading speculation about the cause of the Beirut crash. In a telephone interview, he cautioned that this latest report must be checked thoroughly. But he said it raises questions about why Lebanese politicians were so quick to rule out foul play and blame pilot error.

G2 Bulletin is a paid subscription site put out by World Net Daily.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:33 PM