Imprisoned shoe bomber says attack on U.S. plane OK under Islamic law

More than 13 years after his failed attempt to blow up a passenger plane with explosives hidden in his shoes, Richard Reid told U.S. researchers he believes his actions were permissible under Islamic law, according to correspondence released on Tuesday. Reid, who is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Colorado because of the attack, was foiled in his 2001 bid to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami when passengers and crew overpowered him as he tried to ignite explosives in his shoes. The attempted attack in December 2001 came as Americans were on heightened alert following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. targets, and prompted federal officials to institute stricter security rules for travelers requiring airline passengers to run their shoes through a screening device. "I do believe my actions to have been permissible in Islamic law, although I admit that many people would dispute that and disagree with me on that point," Reid wrote in one of a series of letters with researchers from the Virginia-based Justitia Institute who reached out to him last June.



from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/1K9eiVd

via IFTTT