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.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/commenter_says_he_was_aboard_n.html
"I was on this flight today and am thankful to be alive. My wife and I were returning from an African safari and had this connecting flight through Amsterdam. I sat in row 27, which was 7 rows behind the terrorist. I got to see the whole thing take place and it was very scary. Thanks to a few quick acting people I am still alive today.
For those of you talking about airline security in this thread, I was next to the terrorist when he checked in at the Amsterdam airport early on Christmas. My wife and I were playing cards directly in front of the check in counter. This is what I saw (and I relayed this to the FBI when we were held in customs):
An Indian man in a nicely dressed suit around age 50 approached the check in counter with the terrorist and said "This man needs to get on this flight and he has no passport." The two of them were an odd pair as the terrorist is a short, black man that looked like he was very poor and looks around age 17(Although I think he is 23 he doesn't look it). It did not cross my mind that they were terrorists, only that the two looked weird together. The ticket taker said "you can't board without a passport". The Indian man then replied, "He is from Sudan, we do this all the time". I can only take from this to mean that it is difficult to get passports from Sudan and this was some sort of sympathy ploy. The ticket taker then said "You will have to talk to my manager", and sent the two down a hallway. I never saw the Indian man again as he wasn't on the flight. It was also weird that the terrorist never said a word in this exchange. Anyway, somehow, the terrorist still made it onto the plane. I am not sure if it was a bribe or just sympathy from the security manager.
FBI also arrested a different Indian man while we were held in customs after a bomb sniffing dog detected a bomb in his carry on bag and he was searched after we landed. This was later confirmed while we were in customs when an FBI agent said to us "You are being moved to another area because this area is not safe. Read between the lines. Some of you saw what just happened."(The arrest of the other Indian man). I am not sure why this hasn't made it into any news story, but I stood about 15-20 feet away from the other Indian man when he was cuffed and arrested after his search.
What also didn't make the news is that we were held on the plane for 20 minutes AFTER IT LANDED!. A bomb could have gone off then. This wasn't too smart of security to not let us off the plane immediately.
You can see what time I am writing this as I am having a hard time sleeping tonight. Just thought some of you would like to know what I saw, Merry Christmas."
What about all those boastful macho posts I read here on Free Republic about how airline terrorists better beware if they try anything like that again on a U.S. flight because they will be “taken down” in short order their brave American seatmates. According to news reports NOT A SINGLE American passenger made ANY move against the terrorist, even after hearing a bang and seeing smoke coming from his seat. It was left to a brave Dutchman to save the day. (Full disclosure: I’m a proud American who gets a little tired of these big talkers)(Emphasis added).
YOU were the one talking about boastful Freepers...
Roger that.
Yet another nail in the coffin for the Leftard theory that poverty causes Muslim terrorism...Should we bury their idiotic theory of Global Warming in the same coffin? It would save on burial expenses.
It’s important to get that report out because Obama’s thugs will have it pulled very soon, I’m sure.
I was addressing several posts on the hijack threads that themselves seemed quite sure they knew what happened before the facts came out, namely, that it was brave intrepid Americans who “took the terrorist down.” Did you register the same complaint about their presumption, or were you perhaps smugly pleased to “learn” that quick acting Americans saved the day?
THANKS FOR THE PINGS.
They were simply toooooooo amazing to not ping you, just amazing, hey?
“It’s not up to anyone here to disprove your statement. It’s up to you to prove it.”
Did you require the same of those who boastfully comments on these threads about how quick-acting Americans “took down” the terrorist? Where was the proof that anything of the kind actually happened?
Oh my, perhaps there is some truth to the contention of many Europeans that we Americans are arrogant - and thin-skinned.
What hijack threads? Threads relating to this incident? If so, I didn’t comment until the facts were known: Muslim man, age 23 from Nigeria and I certainly didn’t speculate about the identities or nationalities of the passenger heroes.
That was the definition of an ignorant and extremely poorly-written post.
A moderate Muslim = A Muslim interested only in killing Jews.
A radical Muslim = A Muslim interested in killing Jews, Christians, and everyone who isn’t a Muslim.
How times have changed. The 3:00 am phone call has been changed to 3 hours after terror struck.
Not, however,
time to get one’s very overinflated narcissistic head
out of one’s prissy tiny dark little . . .
I’m not preaching to anyone, but I just wanted to say that all of us who believe in the sanctity of life, self-determination, and religious tolerance are all on the same side. It doesn’t matter what nationality etc. It seems that this problem has become bigger than any single country.
Ok Pharmboy, here’s the deal. You wrote: “Which Freepers were on that flight and failed to act? And, were those Freepers who were on the plane and did not act the same Freepers that talk big?”
I replied that I never claimed that any Freepers were on the plane. I merely stated that according to news reports, the only person who actually participated in the takedown of the terrorist was a Dutchman, and that the posts on these threads that were boasting about how we Americans had “taught the terrorist a lesson he won’t soon forget” - were
inaccurate.
A hundred years ago - or perhaps even fifty - common, ordinary people would have known what to do when faced with such a threat. I’m not advocating lynch mobs, but justice would have been swiftly meted out. My concern is that we Americans (myself very much included) have largely lost our ability to confront evil when it stares us in the face, and all we are left with is empty words.
On 80-year-old Norwegians.
I haven’t heard anything about this man’s testimony on the TV news, have you?
Listen, nothing to see here. Move along. When Muslim men reach age 23 they all go through the ritual of burning their legs. This is just religious persecution of a fine upstanding 12th century young man. Now move along
I just read that article too. You are right. We are in some serious trouble. Crap like this isn’t supposed to happen.,
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