New Zealand Hijacker 'Was Known' to Police: Finally Identified as Asha Ali Abdille
We noted yesterday the attempted hijacking by the Somali woman in New Zealand, and it took quite a bit of searching until we could locate her name.
For some strange reason, most media outlets are reticent to tell us who she is.
Hmmm. I wonder why?
A 33-year-old woman immigrant from Somalia was charged with hijacking Friday after invading the cockpit of a small commuter plane on a domestic flight in New Zealand and stabbing the two pilots.
The plane, carrying seven passengers on an early morning, 240-kilometre flight from Blenheim to Christchurch, made a safe emergency landing after the knife-wielding woman fell in severe turbulence, police said.
One of the pilots was so badly slashed on the hands as he fought off the woman who tried to grab the controls that he had to undergo surgery.
The co-pilot and another woman passenger who intervened were treated for less serious cuts.
Police said the woman, who demanded to be flown to Australia at one stage, was sitting immediately behind the pilot and jumped up and attacked him 10 minutes after take-off.
She claimed she had brought two bombs on board, but army experts who searched the plane, which was taxied to an isolated part of the airfield, found nothing. The Christchurch airport was closed to all flights and the terminal evacuated for more than two hours until the all-clear was given, reports said.
New Zealand television channels said the woman - who they named as Asha Ali Abdille - came to New Zealand as a refugee with a troubled past in 1994 when she was aged 19 and was known to police.
She had been the subject of questions in parliament following an on-going fight with the immigration department which rejected her application for New Zealand residence visas for 14 members of her extended family.
The woman had been working as a fruit picker in the Blenheim area and leaders of the Somali immigrant community in New Zealand were reported as having distanced themselves from her.
Just curious as to why in all these stories nobody wants to name her?
Anyone want to hedge a guess?
While further looking into this story, I find it curious that passengers on short domestic flights do not pass through security screening. I suspect that will soon be changed.
Air New Zealand general manager of short haul airlines, Bruce Parton, said the airline was reviewing its security procedures.
"Today's incident, although a one-off, has naturally given us cause to conduct a thorough review of our safety and security systems and processes on regional domestic flights,'' Parton said.
Passengers boarding short haul flights at New Zealand airports do not routinely pass through security screening.
Can you say soft target?
As we know from recent headlines, it's not beneath terrorists using unstable women to do their evil deeds. Of course, his may well not be terror-related, but it would be nice if the media dug a little deeper here.
A few more details on her past emerge.
Ms Abdille was born in Sudan but grew up in Somalia. When fighting began in Mogadishu in 1991, she was separated from her family and eventually flown to New Zealand in 1994 as a refugee.
She has moved frequently since and is said to be alienated from her community and frustrated by failures to reunite with her family.
A Blenheim Muslim community spokesman, Zayad Blissett, said that Ms Abdille was not part of the community. “She has quite a history of mental instability and she has threatened to kill family here. She's an alcoholic and very unstable.”
A taxi driver says Ms Abdille had seemed "vague" when he took her to Blenheim airport. The driver, who identified himself as Colin, told New Zealand radio: “She was a wee bit vague. He described her as "away with the fairies.”
"She couldn't work out where she wanted to go for while which I thought was quite strange at that time of the morning. She was very nervous, very unsure of where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do.”
All the more reason to wonder why she was allowed on a plane.
Cross posted at JWF.
JammieWearingFool
in Media bias, Asha Ali Abdille, New Zealand
|
7 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Reader Comments (7)
Funny how these refugees manage to stump up the cost of the flight. They're not cheap.
Bernard,
I believe she sold her shoes to pay for it.
JWT
Very thin. I assume you're trying to make an anti-islamist point. But your post makes clear that this woman is clearly deranged. A knife-weilding nutter on a light aircraft in NZ demanding to go to OZ does not remotely resemble AQ.
Actually, Peter, I wasn't trying to make any specific point. Rather, it was a look at both media bias and the security ineptitude in New Zealand that allowed a deranged woman with knives on an aircraft.
As I disseminated the reportage over the course of 18 or so hours, it was curiously reminiscent of incidents whereby the media is hesitant to report certain indelicate facts so as not to offend some communities.
Nowhere was there any implication she was tied to Al Qaeda,though I do point out it's worth investigating further to she if she possibly had any other assistance.
As I do not want to chew up so much space here at ATW, I encourage you and others to read some of the further updates and links related to my original post at my place.
Aw, for goodness' sake - not another Buddhist terrorist! I'm getting tired of this, it's Buddhist terror here, Buddhist terror there, it gets to the stage where you don't even need to know the name of the person, you just know straight away that it's going to be another bloomin' Buddhist.
(Obviously the Jews are the real masterminds behind it all, but I don't even need to say that of course).
"The woman had been working as a fruit picker in the Blenheim area and leaders of the Somali immigrant community in New Zealand were reported as having distanced themselves from her. "
There is a 'Somali immigrant community' in New Zealand? WTF does New Zealand need a 'Somali immigrant community' for? Indeed, why does any country need a 'Somali immigrant community'? I'm with Drunken Cyclist on this: Somalia for the Somalis - and that's exactly where they should be!
to Allen from Oslo
I think you bit confuse about who belong to what country ,going back to the history,you and your brothers were all over the world terrorising far east and Africa, and no wonder we learn that from you how to migrate,so please allen don't change the subject and let us stick with the incident that happen in New Zealand.
(let the wind blow where it belongs)