MIAMI, 9 June 2006 — US authorities have arrested a Saudi national who threatened to blow up an airliner after he was turned down for a job as a translator for the US military in Iraq.
Saleh Nasser Al Suwailem, 45, admitted he had made the threat at the US Army’s Fort Benning base in Georgia on Monday, but said he had no intention to carry it out, according to court documents.
Suwailem was at the base to prepare to become an Arabic translator for US operations in Iraq, according to a court affidavit.
After being told he could not get the job because he lacked security clearance, and had to fly back to his home in Boise, Idaho, he started drinking with an acquaintance.
“Saleh Al Suwailem was upset that he did not get the job and had to fly home the next day, so he spontaneously stated: ‘Okay, I’m going to bomb the plane,” FBI agent Todd Kalish said in the affidavit.
The incident was reported to an official at Fort Benning who alerted authorities. Suwailem was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly making terrorist threats to blow up an airplane.
He admitted to the FBI he had made the threat, but said he had been upset and had no intention of blowing up the airliner.
