MOGADISHU, Somalia — A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe that could have caused an explosion in a case bearing similarities to the terrorist plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, officials said Wednesday.
The Somali man — whose name has not been released — was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops before the Nov. 13 Daallo Airlines flight took off. It had been scheduled to travel from Mogadishu to the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, then to Djibouti and Dubai. A Somali police spokesman, Abdulahi Hassan Barise, said the suspect is in Somali custody.
“We don’t know whether he’s linked with al-Qaeda or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist. We caught him red-handed,” Barise said.
U.S. officials are investigating any possible links to the Detroit attack.
