20091231

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Security officers arrested a young Somali man attempting to board a Dubai-bound plane in November in the capital Mogadishu with a suspicious white powder, liquid and syringes, Somali officials said on Wednesday.

Somali officials said they initially thought the chemicals were for use in the so-called "black dollar" scam in which fraudsters convince people they can turn black bills into U.S. dollars using chemicals.

But the botched attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound plane on December 25 by a Nigerian who says he was trained by al Qaeda aroused suspicions the Somali may have had similar aims.

"Before, we thought these were for washing the money we had seized. But the incident at Detroit shows the similarity of the chemicals," Ahmed Ali Aftooje, chief of police at Mogadishu airport, told Reuters.

"He was carrying empty syringes, liquid and powder separately in the same bag," he said.

Security Minister Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, Barigye Ba-hoku, spokesman for the African Union peacekeepers in Somalia, and a senior officer in the National Security Service all told Reuters a man carrying suspicious chemicals was detained at the airport.

Ali told Reuters they had established the chemicals were explosive, and not for the money scam as initially thought.

The suspect is believed to be in custody in Somalia.