US embassy cable - 02AMMAN7388

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 007388 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2007 
TAGS: EAIR, ASEC, PTER, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN: DETAILS ON RJ BOMB THREAT 
 
Classified By: A/DCM TOM YOUNG. REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
1.  (C)  Civil Aviation Authority Director General Hanna 
Najjar and Royal Jordanian Airlines Executive VP Ghassan Ali 
provided the following details on the bomb threat against a 
Royal Jordanian Airlines Airbus A-340 flight 602 from Amman 
to Abu Dhabi the early morning of December 22. 
 
-- At about 3:40 a.m., 10-15 minutes before scheduled landing 
in Abu Dhabi, a passenger seated toward the front of the 
airplane claimed he had a bomb.  He was immediately subdued 
and handcuffed by sky marshals on board. 
 
-- Immediately thereafter, another passenger closer to the 
back of the airplane stood up and made the same claim.  He 
was also immediately subdued and handcuffed by the sky 
marshals.  The plane landed safely in Abu Dhabi at 3:40 a.m. 
 
-- The aircraft landed in Abu Dhabi and the two were taken 
off.  They were identified as "Muhammad Ali Hussein" and 
"Abdul Nasser Farraj."  They were identified as Libyan 
nationals and taken into custody by Abu Dhabi authorities. 
Both had boarded in Amman as transit passengers originating 
in Tripoli, Libya (Tripoli-Amman-Abu Dhabi). 
 
-- The Abu Dhabi authorities searched the plane and luggage 
thoroughly and found nothing suspicious.  The plane was 
allowed to return to Amman via Dubai according to its 
original flight plan, leaving Abu Dhabi at 8:30 a.m. 
(Contrary to some press reports, Amman's Queen Alia Airport 
was not closed by the torrential rains and snow flurries of 
the past two days.) 
 
2.  (C)  Jordanian security and intelligence services are 
investigating.  Najjar said he had urged them to consider the 
possibility that the event was a "test" of Jordanian 
procedures and responses.  He was pleased by the performance 
of the sky marshals. 
GNEHM