Reid 'used web to buy explosives'

Disturbing details emerged today of how "shoe bomber" Richard Reid used the internet to buy a lethal explosive known by Middle East terrorists as Mother of Satan.

The 28-year-old Londoner is reported to have told the FBI he spent £1,000 on explosive materials and components during a visit to Amsterdam in the days before he tried to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami.

The revelation came as Reid prepared to appear again today before a United States court.

FBI laboratories have apparently identified the material smuggled aboard the jetliner in Reid's shoes as triacetone triperoxide, or TATP.

A senior US official close to the investigation said that the substance was also familiarly known as Mother of Satan and that the charge would have been powerful enough to blow a hole in the plane's fuselage.

The same substance was used in an attempt to blow up a jumbo jet in 1994, the official said.

TATP is known to be more unstable than more commonly used plastic explosives. It can be made by amateurs in makeshift laboratories from chemicals easily purchased. It is risky to handle and transport, sometimes exploding when accidentally dropped on the floor, and has been known to kill terrorists attempting to use it.

But US government officials say that Reid may have failed in his bombing bid because the fuse in his trainers contained no metal. Such a fuse, they say, could have picked up enough moisture to make it difficult to light.

Federal prosecutors are preparing evidence that will persuade a judge that Reid must not be released on bail. He has been charged with interfering with a flight crew, but the US Attorney's office is expected to file further charges of a more serious nature.

A chief witness at his hearing in a US district court in Boston is FBI special agent Margaret Cronin, who arrested Reid after the Paris-to-Miami jet made an emergency landing in Boston on Saturday.

The FBI is searching the passenger list for evidence that Reid had an accomplice in his attempt at a suicide sabotage. Politicians who have been briefed on the exact nature of the explosive in his shoes say it is highly unlikely that he could have done what he did by himself. "This was a sophisticated operation," said Congressman John Mica, chairman of the Aviation Committee in the House of Representatives.

Earlier the father of the "shoe bomber", Robin Reid, who lives in south London, said his son must have been "brainwashed". Mr Reid senior, a former criminal who has spent 18 years in jail and who was in prison when his son was born, said: "He's not a bad lad. I can't imagine him doing anything like this without him being involved with someone else."

Richard Reid's mother, Lesley Hughes, from Frome, Somerset - who divorced his father in 1984 - released a statement through a firm of solicitors, saying: "Other than what my client has heard or read in the media, she has no knowledge of this matter. As any mother would be, she is deeply shocked and concerned about the allegations made against her son, but has no further comment to make."

Dutch authorities investigating the FBI evidence confirmed today that it was "very probable" that Richard Reid had been in Amsterdam. Secret service spokesman Vincent van Steen said "We have indications he was here." Prosecutors in the Dutch capital confirmed that inquiries have been started, but declined to give details about possible charges, saying investigations were still at an early stage.

Officials in Israel, France, the US and the Netherlands have been retracing Reid's travels ahead of his apparent botched terror attack. They were in search of recent purchases that could link him to terrorists.

One of Reid's court-appointed lawyers said she was unaware of any evidence linking him to terrorists, however. "We urge the press and the public to maintain open minds as the criminal justice system proceeds," assistant federal public defender Tamar Birckhead said.

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