Father says suspected hijacker is innocent

Cairo - The father of an Egyptian suspected of hijacking and piloting a plane into the World Trade Centre said yesterday he believes…

Cairo - The father of an Egyptian suspected of hijacking and piloting a plane into the World Trade Centre said yesterday he believes his son is innocent, and still alive.

Mohammed Atta's father, a lawyer in his 60s, also said his son liked chess, not "macho toys" such as guns, was fluent in English and German, and was close to his mother.

He said he believed his 33-year-old son was alive, adding that he had telephoned him after the September 11th attacks. "I believe he was under threat, that he had been kidnapped and forced to make the call," he said.

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