Posted on 12/26/2009 7:45:24 AM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
Father reported him to US Authorities six months ago
The young man, who yesterday night attempted to ignite an explosive device aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan in the United States has been identified as Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, former First Bank chairman. Mutallab, a former minister and prominent banker recently retired from the bank's board.
The older Mutallab, as at the time of filing this report, had just left his Katsina hometown for Abuja to speak with security agencies, family sources say. According to the family members, Mutallab has been uncomfortable with the boy's extreme religious views and had six months ago reported his activities to United States' Embassy, Abuja and Nigerian security agencies.
The older Mutallab was said to be devastated on hearing the news of Abdul Farouk's attempted bombing arrest. A source close to him said he was surprised that after his reports to the US authorities, the young man was allowed to travel to the United States.
The family home of the Mutallabs in Central London, is currently being searched by men of the Metropolitan Police. THISDAY checks reveal that the suspect, Abdulfarouk Umar Muttalab who is an engineering student at the University College, London had been noted for his extreme views on religion since his secondary school days at the British International School, Lome, Togo.
At the secondary school, he was known for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates and he was popularly called “Alfa”, a local coinage for Islamic scholar. After his secondary school, the young man, family sources said went to University College London to study engineering and later relocated to Egypt, and then Dubai. While in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, he declared to his family members that he did not want to have anything to do with any of them again.
His father, Muttalab is a regular visitor to the US where he visits for medical check up and holidays. He is expected to issue a statement later today.
Muttalab is married to an Arab of Yemeni-descent. However, THISDAY could not confirm at the time of filing this report if the woman is the mother of the young man now receiving treatment in Ann Harbor Hospital, Detroit, for burns suffered while he was trying to detonate the explosive device in the plane.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dora Akunyili, minister of information and communications, has issued the following statement: " Federal Government of Nigeria received with dismay the news of an attempted terrorist attack on a US airline. We state very clearly that as a nation, we abhor all forms of terrorism. The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has directed Nigerian security agencies to commence full investigation of the incident. While steps are being taken to verify the identity of the alleged suspect and his motives, our security agencies will cooperate fully with the American authorities in the on-going investigations. Nigerian government will be providing updates as more information becomes available."
Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, had caused panic when he tried to detonate some explosive device strapped to his leg on Christmas Day while the US airliner was about to land at Detroit Metro Airport with 278 people on board.
Abdulmutallab was said to have been overpowered by passengers after the failure of the device to ignite properly. He is currently being questioned by the FBI, according to a senior US official. A passenger, identified as Jasper Schuringa, told CNN that with the aid of the cabin crew, he helped subdue and isolate Abdulmutallab.
Agency reports quoted the US federal law enforcement and airline security agencies say Abdulmutallab was taken into custody and is being treated for second- and third-degree burns on his thighs. Reports said the remains of the device the suspect detonated have been sent to an FBI explosives laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.
Even with the initial official impression that the suspect was acting alone and did not have any formal connections to organised terrorist organisations, there are reports that he was indeed a hard-core, trained al-Qaeda operative. Abdulmutallab was quoted in a US federal security bulletin to have admitted having extremist ties and saying the explosive device "was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used".
Statement from Representative Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, was quoted as branding the explosive device "fairly sophisticated". "(The device) appears to be different from what we've encountered before," Mr King told Fox News. "My understanding also is that while (the suspect) is not on a watch list, he definitely has terror connections.
"There is a terrorist nexus leading towards al-Qaeda involving this assailant. When it did go off he himself was seriously injured, my understanding is he has third-degree burns. This could have been catastrophic."
Abdulmutallab, according to sources, flew into Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on a KLM flight from Lagos and is not believed to be on any "no fly" list. This is despite his name appearing in a US database of people with suspect connections. An administration official also said he did not undergo secondary security screening in Amsterdam. It was from here he transferred to Northwest Airlines - which is undergoing a merger with Delta Airlines - for the nine-hour flight to Detroit in an Airbus A330-330.
US President Barack Obama, who was holidaying in Hawaii, acting on briefing on the incident, instructed in a subsequent discussion with security advisers "that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel".
Direct fallout of this incident is more rigorous security checks by airlines. A spokesperson for BAA said British passengers travelling to the US should expect their airline to carry out additional security checks prior to boarding.
"To support this important process, which will take time, we would advise passengers to leave more time to check in and limit the amount of baggage being taken on board the aircraft," she added. "If in any doubt, please contact the relevant airline for further information."
A Department of Homeland Security statement Friday told air passengers that they "may notice additional screening measures put into place to ensure the safety of the travelling [sic] public on domestic and international flights." Abdulmutallab’s trip began in Lagos, Nigeria where he boarded a KLM airline flight to Amsterdam and connected with Northwest Delta airline to Michigan, USA.
Hmmmm.
Spell it out properly.
“God bless the father.”
Amen! Of course, to his son, and to the American/European Left, the father is nothing but a filthy Capitalist.
Both the father and the Nigerian government are to be commended for quick, appropriate responses. At least the son will have CAIR come to his defense.
The US Embassy knew about Jr. fully six months ago, but still his name isn’t on a ‘don’t fly’ list? Are we waiting for another “man-made disaster?”
And in Hawaii, Barack Hussein Obama rolled over and said, "I need a little more tan on this side."
More information. Might want to send it to the list.
At first, I thought the “former minister” meant a religious minister, but I guess it is a “minister’ in the Nigerian government, not a religious minister.
At least he reported his son to authorities. It sounds like it is our government who is playing politics with American lives by not having this man on a terrorist watch list. Especially, after the father gave his son's name to the authorities. That must have been a very hard thing for the father to do.
How many Fort Hood's and other incidents are we going to have before people realize where Obama’s sympathies lie. The man-made disaster statement by his Homeland Security department should have been enough to wake people up.
I guess his Homeland Security department is too busy chasing down people with cars that have pro-life stickers. I put a pro-life sticker on my car after Homeland Security decided pro-lifers were more of a threat that the terrorists.
I wonder if the recent adverse decision against Northwest i the case of the “flying Imams” somehow impacted security/screening procedures..
I imagine it's much like a child molester that can do whatever he wants for years until he's noticed by enough officials or is actually convicted of an offense before he gets put on a list. Not that lists matter much when he could just as easily have used one of his 372 cousins' passports (Mexican illegals have done that for decades) or got a fake one. Face it, we're pretty much at the mercy of Lady Luck and then add our incompetence and you've got major disaster just waiting to happen (again).
Check this report out..
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/commenter_says_he_was_aboard_n.html
“He’s a true Muslim friend of America”
lol what?
someone puts out a half-baked press release of condemnation (what else would you expect) & you take it at face value, even lauding “true friend” as if you see the facts behind the press release?
Islam is at all times the enemy of America. IF it’s like this guy says, then he’s a nominal, not-accepting-the-koran-as-true ‘muslim’. We need more of those.
How many Fort Hood’s and other incidents are we going to have before people realize where Obama’s sympathies lie. The man-made disaster statement by his Homeland Security department should have been enough to wake people up.
Not sure how many more terrorist or other incidents we will have to endure during the Black Muslim’s Presidency.
I remember the Jimmy Carter years were very long.
Many didn’t know what was happening and Shuringa acted instantaneously and reacted accordingly.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Schuringa, sitting in seat 20J, in the right-most section of the Airbus 330, looked to his left. “I saw smoke rising from a seat ... I didn’t hesitate. I just jumped,” he said.
Schuringa dove over four passengers to reach Abdul Mutallab’s seat. The suspect had a blanket on his lap. “It was smoking and there were flames coming from beneath his legs.”
“I searched on his body parts and he had his pants open. He had something strapped to his legs.”
The unassuming hero ripped the flaming, molten object — which resembled a small, white shampoo bottle — off Abdul Mutallab’s left leg, near his crotch. He said he put out the fire with his bare hands.
Schuringa yelled for water, and members of the flight crew soon appeared with fire extinguishers. Then, he said, he hauled the suspect out of the seat.
“I took him in a choke to the first class and all the people were like, ‘What’s going on?!”
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/terror_hero_didn_hesitate_8oVwlYC8M0rFfwIwkjVXXM#ixzz0ao77v6H6
If that report has any truth to it, we are in deep doo doo.
Holy crap!
No passport. And Indian handler for the Amsterdam airport transfer.
And another passenger with a bomb in his bag was arrested in Detroit after the flight landed!
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/commenter_says_he_was_aboard_n.html
Thanks for providing the details of what happened. I’m certainly happy that Dutchman had the fortitude to act decisively. But what if he hadn’t been there? Could another precious seconds before anyone did anything have resulted in tragedy? I dearly hope that we as Americans truly have the courage and toughness to respond when confronted face to face with evil. I get a little annoyed by the empty machismo that is sometimes displayed on this forum, and would like to see how some of those big talkers would have responded in such a situation.
STRONG portfolio underpins First Bank of Nigeria’s push to take on a greater international role
Wow! If that’s true, it’s pretty bad news. BTW, I wonder how the witness decided the “Indian” man was Indian; couldn’t he have been Pakistani?
I was reading on that website when the guy posted the comment. The mlive site posted another story on his comment.
On the first thread he told mlive adm that he still has his boarding pass and would email them a photo of it.
It sounds to me from reading it that it is true.
No passport. And Indian handler for the Amsterdam airport transfer.
And another passenger with a bomb in his bag was arrested in Detroit after the flight landed!
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/commenter_says_he_was_aboard_n.html
If this story has any validity, the worldwide airport security network is a failure.
There have been many comments regarding the tight ship at Schiphol Airport.
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