Mutallab received explosives from Nigeria, Yemeni govt claims (Page 3)

THE young Nigerian accused of attempting to bomb a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day aquired the explosives used in the failed attack over Detroit during a stop-over in Lagos, Nigeria, Yemeni government claimed, on Thursday.

Yemen’s deputy prime minister, Rashad al-Alimi, denied emphatically that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who flew from Accra, Ghana, on December 24, and transited the airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on his way to board the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight in Amsterdam, left Yemen with the explosives.

Alimi also told a news conference, on Thursday afternoon, that Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda in London.

He also told a news conference, on Thursday, that Abdulmuttalab joined the terror group during his three years as a student at University College.

The claim came hours after United States authorities charged the 23-year-old with six offences including attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill nearly 300 people.

But a Briitsh Home Office spokesman insisted no new information about the suspect’s links to Islamic militants in Britain had been uncovered.

The spokesman added that Abdulmutallab views only became serious after he left the United Kingdom in 2008.

But Rashad al-Alimi, Yemen’s deputy prime minister for defence and security, told a news conference In the capital Sana’a: “The information provided to us is that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab joined al-Qaeda in London.”

He also revealed that Abdulmutallab met with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen.

American-born al-Awlaki was linked to US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged gunman who accused of killing 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in November.

The deputy prime minsiter added that a number of al-Qaeda elements who had contact with the Abdulmutallab had been arrested.

In a separate development, it emerged that US intelligence services only discovered extremist links to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab when he was already on board the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Border officials finally learned of his suspected terrorist ties from an intelligence database after he had taken off from Amsterdam en route to Detroit, but had decided to question him when he landed, it emerged, on Thursday.

A senior US law enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times: ‘The people in Detroit were prepared to look at him in secondary inspection. The decision had been made.

“The database had picked up the State Department concern about this guy –– that this guy may have been involved with extremist elements in Yemen.”

If the intelligence had been acted on sooner, Abdulmutallab could have been stopped and questioned before getting on board the plane.

The official added: “They could have made the decision on whether to stop him from getting on the plane.”

But making the link would not have resulted in more scrutiny before the suspect left the Netherlands, he added.

Abdulmutallab was in a database of around 500,000 names of people with suspected links to extremists, but who are not considered threats.

Security officials would therefore only have attempted to question him when he arrived in the US.

“The public isn’t aware how many people are allowed to travel through the US who are linked, who intersect with bad guys or alleged bad guys,” an official said.

“It makes sense from an intelligence perspective. If they are not considered dangerous, it provides intelligence on where they go, who they meet with.”

The window for identifying potential threats travelling on board flights is very limited, the official added.

Officials have access to passenger data based on the lists of those who made flight reservations. But in-depth vetting only begins once the flight manifest has been generated just hours before takeoff.

On arrival in the US, inspectors can put passengers through a secondary inspection which involves more extensive questioning and searches.

The White House is carrying out a review of security measures at US airports and expects to introduce tougher restrictions in the wake of the failed bomb plot.

President Barack Obama held a meeting with senior staff, on Wednesday, and blasted intelligence agencies for not joining up the dots and preventing the attack.

His father had warned US officials he was worried his son had been radicalised, but that threat was never identified fully by intelligence officials.

hahahahhha, u think every Nigerian is nt educated or wat?...u ar the one dat really needs a 4ckin history nd a fresh education, cuz u knw ntin abt nigerians, nd i guess u arnt a Nigerian sef

go nd suck balls...idiot

the brits colonized us, nd we speak their English, cuz its our official language..nd i dnt need to learn ur invisible form of English...digg dat?

go nd suck on ur mum's sunburned nipples..nasty ass american!