Test Run for Terrorists in Los Angeles Airport?

An Iraqi citizen, Fadhel Al-Maliki, 35, who was carrying an expired U.S. green card and has lived here since 1994, was detained Tuesday at the Los Angeles International Airport as he was attempting to board his flight. He triggered a security alarm when it was discovered he was concealing what appeared to be a battery wrapped in wires inside his rectum.

The device was suspicious enough to draw the attention of authorities. The device was described as a "magnet wrapped with a piece of gum in a napkin and then coiled with wire; and some kind of round, polished stone."

Al-Maliki, who initially claimed the device was therapeutic - but may later have changed his story - was being held for a mental evaluation, as well as for a possible immigration violation due to the expired green card.

After the device was discovered, a bomb squad was called in. Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman with the FBI, said the device did not contain any explosives. She also said Al-Maliki had flown into Los Angeles on Monday for a visit, but details were unclear as to what exactly that visit entailed, especially taking into account the early departure of his return flight.

After the bomb squad gave the all-clear to the mysterious device the plane, without Al-Maliki, took off for Philadelphia, but was diverted to Las Vegas when officials realized Al-Maliki's luggage was still on the plane. The plane - an Airbus A320 - was searched in a secured area away from terminals, although no passengers were removed. No flights were delayed at either airport.

The initial FBI assessment was there was never a threat to Al-Maliki's flight, although some observers have wondered whether or not this might have been a dry run before a terrorist attack. In the month before the terrorist attacks on 9/11, several of the hijackers took what investigators called "test runs" or "dry runs," in order to probe security checkpoints and vulnerabilities. In recent years, federal authorities have investigated charges that have been described by airline passengers and federal air marshals as possible dry runs in preparation for another terrorist attack.