Fake Bomb, Real Arrest

MIAMI: Saddo Ibrahim learned his lesson Friday in Miami after the Lebanese man brandished a tape recorder wrapped in tinfoil and threatened to blow up Iberia Airlines Flight 6621 if he was not taken to Miami. The DC-10 was flying from Madrid to Havana when Ibrahim stepped forward with a letter opener and his "bomb." Holding two wires connected to the tape recorder, he demanded that the pilot divert the flight and told the passengers and crew: "If I put these two wires together, this bomb will blow up." The plane landed in Miami at about 3 p.m. ET Friday. Police rushed the plane and took Ibrahim into custody. Francisco Garcia, a Spanish government spokesman, reported that Ibrahim ended up on the flight a few days after he escaped from a refugee camp in Southern Lebanon. As for the motivation, FBI spokesman Paul Philip said Ibrahim "simply did not want to go to Havana. He wanted to go to the U.S." He got his wish: even though none of the 232 people aboard the plane was hurt, Ibrahim will be charged with air piracy and will probably serve a minimum of 20 years in jail. Josh Dubow