Missing passenger sparks alert
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The terror alert reached fever pitch on Wednesday as speculation swirled about why one man failed to board an Air France flight that was canceled due to security concerns.
U.S. officials had said the name of the passenger, Abdul Hay, on the Air France Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, was similar to that of a man close to the Taliban who escaped from U.S. custody in Kandahar.
But senior U.S. intelligence officials told CNN on Wednesday he was not the same man, and there was no reason to believe he had links to terrorism.
They said they had looked into the passenger lists of various flights canceled due to fears of possible terrorist attacks over the Christmas holiday, and found "no derogatory information" on anyone.
Authorities in Europe are looking for Hay as part of the investigation into everyone who booked seats on the Air France flights, which were canceled after intelligence indicated flights from Paris might be used in attacks.
U.S. intelligence officials said some names of passengers for those flights were similar to names on a terror data base.
French intelligence sources said French intelligence officials discussed the passenger lists with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and officials from the CIA and FBI in Washington on January 3.
In the wake of a heightened terrorism alert by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that was set on December 21 at "high" or Code Orange, several non-U.S. airline flights bound for the United States have been delayed, canceled or turned around in mid-flight because of security concerns.
On Tuesday, Delta Airlines Flight 43, from Paris, France, to the airport that serves Cincinnati, Ohio, landed without incident after a suspicious passenger was not allowed to board the aircraft in France.
The passenger was a woman wearing a heated jacket containing wiring that triggered security concerns, U.S. government sources said.
Sources said the woman was a 22-year-old Saudi electrical engineer carrying a Jordanian passport. Her nationality, passport and occupation, along with the wires in her jacket, all were factors that raised concerns.
"Nothing suspicious was found," the spokesman said. "She took the next flight to Cincinnati."
Meanwhile, the level of threat information and intelligence from so-called "chatter" has fallen off a bit, but remained at high levels, U.S. officials said.
The officials said the difference in the information is that it is less specific. For example, there was specific intelligence regarding certain flight numbers and intelligence regarding a possible attack on New Years Eve. Now, the intelligence is more general in nature, according to officials.
Officials also said that the Code Orange threat level could be lowered to yellow or elevated soon, although no decision has been made. Certain sectors, such as aviation, could be kept on a higher alert while the national threat level is lowered, the officials said.
-- CNN Correspondents Kelli Arena, David Ensor, and Sheila MacVicar contributed to this report.
