A U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman said there was no evidence to suggest Khodjamirian, a Long Island resident of Ukrainian descent, was a terrorist.An FBI arrest affidavit said Khodjamirian had consumed several alcoholic drinks and became loud and disruptive about 90 minutes after takeoff on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, as he started to kick the seats in front of him.According to the affidavit, flight attendants tried to calm Khodjamirian down, then moved him to the rear of the plane, but he struck one attendant in the face and began yelling threats.Members of the crew ultimately managed to restrain him with flexible handcuffs, and two attendants sat on him until the plane arrived in Denver, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado.Speaking through an interpreter before a U.S. magistrate, Khodjamirian acknowledged drinking alcohol on the plane and added he had been drinking because his brother was dying and had just two days to live. “That’s why I had alcohol.”The judge ordered him to remain in custody at least until next Tuesday, when he is due to return to court to determine if he is eligible for release on bond.
@7 months ago with 39 notes
#Arrested #plane #passenger #distraught #over #dying #brother
* Civilians still emerging from the ruins of the townBy Rania El Gamal and Tim GaynorSIRTE, Libya, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Resistance from fighters
loyal to ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi crumbled in his
home town overnight, government commanders said on Wednesday,
and just two small pockets still held out.Fighters from the interim Libyan government’s volunteer army
walked slowly up the same battle-scarred streets strewn with
empty ammunition cases where they had fought fierce clashes a
day before. Other fighters searched the partly destroyed houses
as a few dazed civilians emerged from their basements.”It looks as though there is no resistance from Gaddafi’s
men. There are no clashes today,” said government field
commander Mustah Hamza.”More than 80 percent of Sirte is now under our control.
Gaddafi’s men are still in parts of neighbourhood Number Two and
the ‘Dollar’ neighbourhood,” he said.A few shots rang out in the distance, then a burst of heavy
machine gun fire closer by. Some green flags, the banner of
Gaddafi’s 42 years in power, still flew above many of the
buildings, indicating how recently they had changed hands.National Transitional Council forces said they believed
Gaddafi’s son Mo’tassim, his father’s national security adviser,
was still holed up in Sirte.NTC fighters manoeuvred a tank into a small side street
flooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at
a large building up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting
off bursts from their AK-47s as they advanced up the street. But
there was very little return fire from the pro-Gaddafi side.”TWO MORE DAYS”The NTC has said it will start the process of rebuilding
Libya as a democracy only after the capture of Sirte, a former
fishing village transformed by Gaddafi largesse into a showpiece
for his rule replete with lavish conference halls and hotels.NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on a visit to Sirte on
Tuesday that it would take two more days to take the town, which
was the last major holdout for Gaddafi loyalists. Gaddafi
himself is believed to be hiding somewhere far to the south in
the vast Libyan desert.But the remnants of Gaddafi’s forces, surrounded on three
sides in Sirte and with their backs to the sea, have so far
fought tenaciously, perhaps believing they face mistreatment or
worse at the hands of their ill-disciplined foe.Back from the front line, fighters from the National
Transitional Council jostled with one another as one man tried
to punch a wounded prisoner and others struggled to keep him
off. The prisoner repeatedly shouted out that he was a civilian.”But you had a gun,” his captors said.”I never used it,” he said, fear in his eyes.Any male of fighting age still in Sirte was under suspicion.”We were staying in a basement,” one man, Gamal Ammar, said
alongside family members. “Some of us were hit. If we had died
it would have been better. We had no water and no food. We
couldn’t get out.” As NTC fighters drew near, he fell silent.
@7 months ago with 19 notes
#WRAPUP #1Gaddafi #resistance #crumbling #in #Libyas #Sirte
