An asylum-seeker in Northern Ireland was downloading bombmaking data. Does this give anyone the idea that asylum-seekers should be subjected to greater scrutiny before being allowed to stay in Western countries? Not yet. "Algerian guilty of downloading bomb data," from The Guardian, with thanks to JE:
A 27-year-old Algerian asylum seeker was yesterday found guilty of downloading information on bomb making from the internet in the first trial of an al-Qaida suspect in Northern Ireland's no-jury Diplock courts.Abbas Boutrab had gathered instructions on how to construct explosives and smuggle them on an aircraft. He also learned how to make a silencer for an M16 or AK assault rifle from metal tubing and rubber door stops.
During the seven-week hearing in Belfast an FBI agent, Donald Schtleben, demonstrated that 25 computer disks found in Boutrab's possession could be used to build a bomb capable of bringing down an aircraft. He suggested the devices could have been disguised inside canisters of baby talcum powder.
Abbas Boutrab had gathered instructions on how to construct explosives and smuggle them on an aircraft. He also learned how to make a silencer for an M16 or AK assault rifle from metal tubing and rubber door stops.
Boy, the Irish sure jump to conclusions. Why, he probably downloaded it to research for a paper he was thinking of writing for a class he was thinking about taking...
shame the IRA didnt get to him first.
Possession of a false passport should be, at the least, grounds for immediate deportation.