WASHINGTON -- A federal grand jury Wednesday charged alleged shoe bomber Richard Reid with being an al Qaeda trained terrorist in an indictment Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed as fresh proof of the government's ability to prosecute terrorists.\nAshcroft said the charges "alert us to a clear, unmistakable threat that al Qaeda could attack the United States again."\nThe attorney general discussed the charges shortly after a federal grand jury in Boston handed up a nine-count indictment, saying, "We must be prepared. We must be ready. We must be vigilant."\nThe indictment alleges that Reid attempted to kill the passengers on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami Dec. 22.\n"Richard Reid did attempt to use a weapon of mass destruction, consisting of an explosive bomb placed in each of his shoes," against Americans, said the 12-page indictment.\nAshcroft credited passengers and crew on that flight with stopping Reid from detonating the shoe bomb and bringing down the plane. \n"Our trust in the common sense of people who act in the face of terrorism was vindicated," he said. \nHe said Wednesday's indictment showed the wisdom of national alerts the government issued on three occasions prior to the Flight 13 incident.\nWednesday's indictment said Reid "received training from al Qaeda in Afghanistan."\nIn addition to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and attempted homicide, Reid was charged with placing an explosive device on an aircraft, interfering with a flight crew, using a destructive device during a crime of violence and attempted wrecking of a mass transportation vehicle.\nHe also was charged with attempted wrecking of a mass transportation vehicle, a new charge created by Congress in an anti-terrorism bill enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.\n"Our ability to prosecute terrorists has been greatly enhanced by the U.S.A. Patriot Act," Ashcroft said.
\nReid "did place on that aircraft explosive devices contained in the footwear he was then wearing," the indictment said, referring to the American flight.\nAshcroft said if convicted on the charges brought against him, Reid could be sentenced to five life terms.\nThere were 183 passengers and 14 crew members on the flight, which was escorted into Boston's Logan Airport.\nOn the charge of interfering with the flight crew, the indictment said Reid assaulted and intimidated flight attendants Hermis Moutardier and Christina Jones.\nReid's court-appointed defense attorney, Tamar Birckhead, did not immediately return a call for comment. Reid has been held since Dec. 22 in Plymouth, Mass.\nA U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity had said earlier that Reid may be an al Qaeda target scout known as "Abdul Ra'uff." Reid's travels match those of an al Qaeda operative known as Abdul Ra'uff, which are listed in a computer obtained in Afghanistan by a Wall Street Journal reporter. The similarities in the two's movements in Europe and the Middle East have led investigators to suspect they are the same person.\nReid is accused of trying to blow up the American Airlines flight on Dec. 22. He was overpowered by flight attendants and passengers as he allegedly tried to light a fuse protruding from his sneakers.\nReid converted to Islam while in prison for petty crimes. He later worshipped at the same south London mosque as Zacarias Moussaoui, charged with conspiracy in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.\nAn Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was possible that Reid was gathering intelligence for large-scale terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv and other cities and was working for al Qaeda.\nIsraeli officials have generally been tightlipped about Reid since he was arrested and accused of trying to blow up the American Airlines flight. Earlier this week, a U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one of the al Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had identified Reid as someone he had trained with at camp run by al Qaeda.\nReid had boarded an El Al flight to Tel Aviv July 7. He spent five days in Israel, before traveling to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. From Egypt, Reid apparently returned to Europe on a commercial flight, Israeli reports said.
