Flying Imams Incident - Suspicious Behavior

Suspicious Behavior

According to some passengers and flight staff, a number of whom didn't identify themselves, the suspicious behavior of the imams included the following:

  • The imams refused to sit in their assigned seats. Instead, it is claimed that they fanned out in the cabin, sitting in pairs close to the front, middle, and rear exit rows.
  • Shahin and the two imams seated in Coach Row 9 requested seatbelt extensions (a strap with large metal buckles normally used by obese individuals to lengthen their seatbelts), even though flight staff say none seemed to need it. They then placed the extensions on the cabin floor in front of them, instead of attaching them to their seatbelts.
  • Three of the imams traveled without any checked baggage, and on one-way tickets.
  • According to a nearby passenger who spoke Arabic, the two imams sitting in the back of the plane, while speaking to each other in Arabic, mentioned Osama bin Laden and condemned America for "killing Saddam".

Shahin denied some of these observations in press reports (see "conflicting accounts" below).

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