UPDATE: Tuesday, 2:10 p.m — The Associated Press reports that Dutch prosecutors said the two Yemeni men were released without charge Wednesday after investigators found no evidence of a terror plot.
By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — All the hoopla over two Yemeni men detained in Amsterdam appears to be nothing, federal law enforcement sources said.
The two U.S. residents, Ahmad Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi, 48, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Hezem al-Murisi, 37, of Memphis, missed their flight on Sunday at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and got on another flight. Screeners found some items that appeared to be suspicious and speculation circulated that the men were possibly trying a test run for a terrorism attack.
But sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said relatives and friends were being interviewed and leads were being followed up and there was no indication the men had any terrorist affiliations.
They caught a different flight, but some of their baggage had already been loaded on the flight they missed, including items that had been taped together and attracted attention from airport screeners. Though no explosives were found, investigators considered the possibility that the men might be conducting a test run for a terrorist attack, officials said.
