As EBAN goes to press, a Swedish citizen – Kerim Sadok Chatty – has been charged with attempted hijacking after he tried to board Ryanair flight FR685 outbound from Sweden’s Vasteras airport to London with a handgun in his carry-on baggage on August 30, 2002.

The suspect, who was part of a group travelling to an Islamic conference in England, was stopped at a security checkpoint.

Swedish police officials removed several passengers who had already boarded the plane, and bomb-sniffing dogs combed the area for explosives, but found nothing suspicious.

Nils Uggla, Chatty’s lawyer, says his client is “very much against violence” and is being unfairly suspected of terrorism because of the timing of his arrest and his Muslim faith.

“He is Muslim, he is flying and he has a gun and it’s close to 11 September,” said Uggla. “That makes people draw quick conclusions.”