British authorities confirmed yesterday that the suspect arrested in the US for allegedly trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight had British nationality.
"We have confirmed that the man is a British citizen," said a spokesman for Scotland Yard, without giving any further information.
"Anything else we have never discussed, not the name [of the suspect] either," he said.
The man got on a flight from Paris to Miami on Saturday, and was overpowered by fellow passengers as he reportedly tried to detonate explosives in his shoes.
The spokesman strongly denied media information that Scotland Yard had confirmed the suspect's name was Richard Colvin Reid, born in England in 1973. He has a police record of minor violations.
He said Scotland Yard was working closely with the FBI in the US, "making enquiries at their request and carrying out whatever task they wish us to carry out."
A US federal court in Boston on Monday charged the suspect with intimidation and interfering with a flight crew, which carries a possible jail term of 20 years and a US$250,000 fine.
In court papers, he is identified as Richard C. Reid, the name listed on a British passport issued Dec. 7 by the British embassy in Brussels.
French authorities initially identified him as a Sri Lankan named Tariq Raja, but a French official said on Monday that investigators there consider him a British national. Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the man is not a Sri Lankan national.
In Washington, officials said that information received by US investigators suggested the suspect's father was British and his mother Jamaican, and that he was born in Sri Lanka but was a naturalized British citizen.
Officials have also said he went by the name Abdel Rahim.
US authorities said yesterday that the materials found hidden in the suspect's shoes could have caused a "major disaster" had he succeeded.
Investigators would not identify the type of explosive material they said was found in devices in the sneakers, but said preliminary FBI tests determined the devices were functional.
``It would have resulted in significant damage and we did avert a major disaster,'' said Charles Prouty, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office.
Prouty said the FBI was investigating whether Reid had links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and hasn't ruled anything out.
But a US government official speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators had nothing to link the suspect to the terror network.
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