Airline steward arrested for Heathrow suitcase murder
A former airline steward has been arrested in Bahrain in connection with the murder of a woman found stuffed in a suitcase with her throat cut at Heathrow airport.
By Heidi Blake
Published: 6:25AM BST 25 Aug 2010
Fatima Kama's body was found in a suitcase at Heathrow airport eleven years ago Photo: PA
The body of Moroccan-born Fatima Kama, 28, a Canadian citizen, was discovered abandoned in a suitcase on an airport trolley on July 17 1999. She was found by a security guard in the foetal position with multiple stab wounds and a slashed throat.
<!-- BEFORE ACI --> The Metropolitan Police have repeatedly appealed for help in tracing Youseff Ahmed Wahid, a former steward for Kuwaiti Airlines, in connection with the murder. A police spokesman said that Wahid was arrested in a pre-planned operation in Bahrain and is in custody pending extradition to the Britain.
Both Wahid and Ms Kama had stayed the flat of a mutual associate in the Marble Arch area of London before the murder. She had stayed at the flat earlier that year and, on returning to Britain for the final time, had arranged to sleep there.
Police have previously said they believe the motive for the murder may have been the theft of a large quantity of money and jewellery belonging to Ms Kama which has never been recovered. The body is believed to have been transported in a black fabric suitcase, bearing the motif Black Paw New York, from the murder scene to Heathrow airport.
Soon after 10am that day, members of the public alerted a security officer to an unattended suitcase that had been left on the third floor of the terminal three car park. The security guard forced it open and found the body. Police were called and a murder investigation was opened.
Ms Kama had been a Canadian citizen for at least two years prior to her murder and was a regular visitor to London. She arrived in the country for the last time on July 10 1999 on a return ticket to Canada, due to fly back to Montreal that evening. A post-mortem examination at Ealing Hospital mortuary revealed that she had been subjected to multiple stab wounds.
