There has been a fair bit of blogospheric speculation about links between yesterday’s attempted hijacking and terrorism. Even Instapundit linked to one such post. However the facts that the woman was confused, unable to overpower the pilots, not effectively armed and not in possession of a bomb all support the theory that it was an impulsive act by a mentally ill woman. There is no indication of planning, involvement by a terrorist organization or any plan to commit suicide.

As it turns out, the hijacker Asha Ali Abdille is well-known not only to police and other Somali refugees, but to immigration authorities, the media and Winston Peters. Since her arrival from Kenya in 1994 she has amassed a string of convictions that Peters, with a touch of hyperbole, compared to Al Capone. For example in 1995, The Dominion 26 January:

A SOMALI national, Asha Ali Abdille, appeared in Wellington District Court yesterday on charges of threatening to kill, common assault, and assaulting and resisting police.

The offences are alleged to have occurred in a Wellington office building.

Abdille, 20, had an interpreter present as Judge John Dalmer remanded her on bail without plea till February 8.

In 2004, Peters made this attack on Abdille using parliamentary privilege:

“But this (Ms Abdille’s) story just gets worse. It turns out this so-called sympathy case for bleeding heart liberals has a background Al Capone would have been proud of. She has, one, several convictions for violence and intimidation. Two, a charge of conspiracy to kill, which did not proceed because the prosecution witnesses refused to testify.

“Three, she has already brought in several family members, some of which allegedly were not even true family members, but which checks failed to identify. Four, she moves regularly between the Somali communities in Hamilton, Hawke’s Bay, Christchurch and Lower Hutt, using intimidatory tactics to get her way. And, fifth, she is also well-known for carrying weapons and for spitting at people’s faces and then telling them she has Aids. Clearly a true role model for our refugee programme.”

In fact Abdille went to the papers with a sob story after she spent $15,000 flying 14 family members to NZ to be interviewed for family reunification visas. After the family members had returned home they were told to come back and submit to DNA testing, apparently due to doubts the immigration authorities had about their relationship to Abdille. Several sympathetic members
of the public donated money to her as a result.

Peters later claimed that his Official Information Act requests were returned with all relevant information, including Abdille’s criminal history, blanked out.

Posted by Phil on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 7:05 am.