Air France crash: 'terrorist suspects' on flight
Pastor Dale Morgan
Air France crash: 'terrorist suspects' on flight*
Two passengers with names that have been linked to Islamist terrorism
were on the Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic, killing
all 228 people on board.
By Peter Allen in Paris
Published: 8:42PM BST 10 Jun 2009
Flight 447 crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on May 31.
While it is certain the aeroplane suffered computer malfunctions,
officials have not ruled out terrorism.
The French secret service has established that two passengers had names
that appear on classified French documents listing people suspected to
be security threats.
Agents are trying to confirm the dates of birth and family connections
of the two passengers. A source in the security service said it was
possible the name similarities were a "macabre coincidence".
Brazilian and French search crews have recovered another 13 bodies from
a spot in the Atlantic Ocean where the Air France jet came down over a
week ago.
A total of 41 bodies have so far been recovered from the zone 700 miles
off Brazil's northeast coast, Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Cardoso, the head
of Brazilian air traffic control, said.
Sixteen of the bodies have been taken to the nearest point on land,
Brazil's archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, and the other 25 were on
their way there, Lt Col Cardoso said.
After being inspected, photographed and catalogued on those islands,
they were to be flown to the mainland coastal city of Recife for
identification by forensic teams.
Brazilian and French officials are using DNA samples from relatives and
dental records to identify the remains.
Brazilian navy ships and a French frigate were to continue to scour the
crash zone for more bodies and debris.