Airline put up 'shoe bomber' in 4-star hotel FROM ADAM SAGE IN PARIS TIMES OF LONDON, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 26 2001 RICHARD REID spent the night before his flight to America at a four-star hotel where he was taken by French police after being barred from an earlie= r plane, it was revealed yesterday. Before staying the night =8B at the expense of American Airlines =8B he was closely questioned by security officials who failed to notice the explosive= s in his trainers.=20 He was then allowed to board another flight to Miami. Officials were still attempting to explain last night why they allowed him on to American Airlines Flight 63 despite the hours of questioning. Police were alerted to his bizarre behaviour by airline security staff when he originally tried to board the flight on Friday. The man was questioned b= y police at the airport, and missed the flight. He was taken to the Fr2,000 (=A3185) a night Copthorne Hotel where the questioning continued. That night, hotel staff heard him praying in his room. The next day French police decided they had no reason to detain him. Security officials denied there was a security lapse, and said the Briton, 28, would have defeated security measures in almost any airport. When the suspect originally tried to board Flight 63 on Friday, his appearance and behaviour prompted the private security firm, ICTS, which is employed by American Airlines in Paris, to alert French police. He had no luggage and appeared nervous, security officers say. =B3Our staff drew the attention of the French authorities to this passenger and it was only after clarification of the situation by the authorities tha= t he was authorised to take his place aboard,=B2 Don Carty, the president of American Airlines, said. He had a Fr29,000 ticket for a round trip via Miami and Antigua, and told officers that he intended to visit his family on the West Indian island. Although he was carrying only a small rucksack containing a magazine, a Walkman, Arab music cassettes and verses from the Koran, he said he had clothes and belongings in the Caribbean. The ticket was checked, and had been paid for in cash at a travel agency in north Paris. Police checked his passport, which they say was authentic, and his identity= . =B3He was not on a register of people who have committed offences or who are wanted for questioning,=B2 a French police spokesman said. =B3So we had no reason to detain him.=B2 He was not body-searched and French police say there was no justification for doing so. As he boarded the plane on Saturday, he went though detectors which, like those in most other airports, can signal only metal objects. The French Government has balked at the cost of installing detectors that can warn of explosives, but may now be prompted t= o do so.