2 Terror Suspects Arrested on Flight from U.S.

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 11:09 p.m. ET

Two men on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Amsterdam were questioned by Dutch authorities after U.S. officials found a cell phone taped to a Pepto Bismol bottle and a knife and box cutter in checked luggage connected with the men, a law enforcement official said.

The official identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi. Al Soofi had a Michigan address, the official said, but it was not immediately clear where the two men were from.

As of Monday night, FBI agents had visited the Detroit neighborhood where several addresses were found for variations of al Soofi's name, according to neighbors who declined to give their names to The Associated Press.

ABC News, which first reported the incident Monday, said al Soofi was from Detroit and that both he and al Murisi were charged in the Netherlands with "preparation of a terrorist attack," but U.S. officials would not confirm that.

Another law enforcement official said, as of Monday night, the men had not been charged with anything in the U.S. CBS News Justice correspondent Bob Orr reports U.S. officials are still trying to determine whether this is a real threat.

The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation and sensitive security issues.

Al Soofi was questioned as he went through security in Alabama on his way to Chicago, according to one of the officials. He told the Transportation Security Administration authorities he was carrying a lot of cash. Screeners found $7,000 on him but he was not breaking any law by carrying that much money. Officials also found multiple cell phones taped together and multiple watches taped together in his checked baggage.

Al Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, and then on to Amsterdam, the official said. But when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. Al Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials. Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday night's flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.

"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves," Kudwa said. She would not identify the two passengers.

It is not illegal to carry knives or taped cell phones and watches in checked baggage.

[chrishazzoo]

I think it is funny how people "hone in" in on the names/cultural backgrounds of terrorists or potential "threats" to our nations security. Based on all you brilliant people out there stating their names are what should give them away as terrorists, the terrorists should immediately begin giving all their people new identities and christian names/backgrounds because no one with a European/White name/look has ever committed an act of terrorism in the US.....(sarcasm)

[ydhyvo]

The one on the right looks like he's "got milk"!

[midwest_pilot]

Isn't immediate capital punishment indicated here? I mean, there's no rehabilitating nut jobs like these and if we continue to let this kind of thing go on, they're going to screw up aviation for the rest of us. I mean, even more so than they already have.

[guyfrompa46]

Where's Hilarry with her moronic "the war on terror is over " statement.. No wonder why security sucks.. We're falling asleep at the wheel because some idiots think this is over.

[wdh3007]

The mosque developers are tax deadbeats here's why Sharif El-Gamal, the leading organizer behind the mosque and community center near Ground Zero, owes $224,270.77 in back property tax on the site, city records all show this but the media doesn't want you to know it.

[jburo]

WOW, More racial profiling.

[FredC1212]

One of those guys looks italian, the other one looks cuban, to me.

Stop cuban and italian profiling, now!

[mecury69]

Yea, it's easy to get grandma's cellphone taped to a medicine bottle mixed up with one of a terrorist.

Are you people for real?

[panola60]

The Obama administration does not consider the Fort Hood massacre by Muslim Nidal Malik Hasan an act of terror. The official report compiled by DOD and DOJ labels the mass murder as "Workplace Violence".

Yesterday the Obama administration shelved its plans to prosecute Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. He's alleged to have coordinated the October 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Seventeen U.S. soldiers were killed. Another 39 were injured.

The American people have no reason to believe that the Obama administration will not "whitewash" this terrorist act as well.

[AlanW21126p]

I'm sad to say, that the lessons of 9-11, if ever learned, are now forgotten. To the US govt, and most Americans, 9-11 is ancient history. It was one-time "fluke", an aberration, a horror most wish to forget.

I hate to say it, but the only thing--the ONLY thing, that will wake us up again, would be another large terror attack.

Until then, expect more PC-cr*ap, more complacency, more laziness, more apathy, and stupid TSA security which focuses on everyone except the true likeliest threat: Muslim males.

Look, we all know, even the liberals, who are doing these crimes, who are plotting these plots. We ALL know it. And almost none of us have the spine to act on ANY of it. Nope. We just spew on with our PC drivel, and nothing changes.

If we had brains, we'd have learned our lessons when 3000 of our fellow citizens were murdered in 1 day. But we didnt.

To be awakened, we probably need to be whacked again. I don't want it. Believe me. Who does? But I do recognize the only thing that will work. So sad.

[to_john]

Every single non-white male with a foreign name needs to have a red crescent sewn to their clothing so that we can identify the enemy. Their families need to be rounded up and held in camps where we can watch what they are doing. The women need to be sterilized so that they can't breed more non-white men. Once we have every Muslim and every descendant of a Muslim identified, detained, and marked, then all our problems will be solved.

Isn't that what you REALLY want?

[FredC1212]

Agreed.

Al Quada was protected by the Taliban who were, and continue to be, helped by elements of the Pakistani government. Pakistan is a nuclear power. So, in essence 9/11 was possible because the bad guys could hide behind bad guys hiding behind Pakistan's nuclear shield.

Now, we see Iran is about to get the bomb, and all we have are some economic sanctions to try and prevent them from becoming as practically invulnerable to the West as is Pakistan.

And Iran has already shown its willingness to attach the US. First, when they took the US embassy hostage during '79-'81, and then again when their proxies attacked and killed 241 Americans in '83.

It would seem likely that a nuclear Iran's proxies, like for example hezbollah, would be sorely tempted to attack the US directly from behind an Iranian nuclear shield.

[AlanW21126p]

Wow, Muslim names.

How absolutely shocking and surprising.

Next thing you know, the cow will be jumping over the moon.

[pragmatist1]

Not surprised with names like these that terrorism fits in...and their own kind remain silent and denounce and condemn nothing. Silence equals complicity and approval and cowardice.

[pragmatist1]

..you know where you can put your you-know-what...you and those of your ilk are part of the problem...whaa, whaa, whaa...complicit coward...

[bobnjersey]

[and their own kind remain silent and denounce and condemn nothing. Silence equals complicity and approval and cowardice. ]

their own kind are not authorizied to be speaking for the religion. they have spefic figures within the religion that have those roles as spokesman.

if you know a muslim and you ask them directly ... and they're open to discussing these issues ... they'll tell you what they think.

so ... do you know any muslims ... or is all that tyou know about them coming as heresay?