BBC News Online: World: Middle East

Suspect's father defends son

Mr Atta says his son had "nothing to do with flying"

The father of an Egyptian suspect in the attacks against the World Trade Center in New York has denied that his son could have had anything to do with the matter.

Mohammed Atta is suspected by the American authorities of having piloted one of the hijacked planes which hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

But his father, an elderly Cairo lawyer, is adamant that his son was not involved and that his passport could have been stolen.

Innocent architect

Clearly outraged by the accusation against his son, Mr Atta spoke to the BBC on the landing in front of the family apartment in a middle-class area of Cairo near the Pyramids.

He described his son as a gentle person - like a little girl, he said, who was incapable of such an act.

"He would never accept to kill innocent people. He has nothing to do with flying - he's an architect who was studying town planning," said Mr Atta.

He insisted on referring to him in the present tense and said he was awaiting his regular telephone call, which comes every two months.

He has recently received a very loving letter from his son, he said, in which the young man wrote that he would come to Egypt to get married.

Reflecting the views of many mainstream Egyptians, Mr Atta had a message for the American President, George W Bush.

"Stop the terrorism practised by States", he said, "and stop Zionist thuggery and attacks against Muslims everywhere, and then there will no terrorism."