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The terror suspect who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane is the son of a Nigerian banker who alerted U.S. authorities to his "extreme religious views" months ago, it was reported Saturday.

The father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former minister and chairman of First Bank in Nigeria, is shocked that his son was even was allowed to fly to the U.S., family members told the Nigerian newspaper This Day.

The dad was meeting with security officials to discuss his son, identified as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23.
The younger Mutallab was not on any no-fly list when he flew from Nigeria to Detroit through Amsterdam, Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) told the Daily News.

When he tried to ignite powder strapped to his leg with a a chemical-filled syringe, he was tackled by a heroic passenger aboard Northwest Flight 253.

The passenger, Dutch video director Jasper Schuringa, told CNN he heard a big bang that sounded like a firecracker, then saw smoke and flames.

Schuringa said saw the man's pants were open and he was holding a burning object between his legs.

"I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," Schuringa said.

Schuringa grabbed Mutallab and pulled him to the front of the plane.

"He was staring into nothing," Schuringa said.

Schuringa said he stripped off the man's clothes to check for other explosives and a crew member helped handcuff him. Passengers apparently applauded his efforts as he walked back to his seat.

"My hands are pretty burned. I am fine," Schuringa said. "I am shaken up."

Schuringa was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center Friday night.

The suspect boarded the Airbus 330 - carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members - in Amsterdam after arriving on a flight from Lagos.

He told authorities he got the explosives in Yemen and received orders from Al Qaeda operatives to detonate the device on a plane over U.S. soil, officials said.

He is an engineering student at the University College in London. His last-known address near the school is a $4 million apartment in Central London. Police were searching there Saturday morning.

This Day reported that the suspect has been known for extremist religious views since high school at the British International School in 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," This Day reported.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... z0apbFsrQV

The explosives were sewn into his underwear in Yemen, ABC reported, for what was supposed to be a suicide attack.

Nigeria has ordered its security agencies to investigate the incident and said they will "co-operate fully" with the US investigations.
Members of a wealthy Nigerian family have confirmed to journalists that he is the son of the former chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, the BBC's Caroline Duffield reports from Lagos.

Officials now say tragedy was only averted on Northwest flight 253 because a makeshift detonator failed to work properly.

Bomb experts say there was more than enough explosive to bring down the Northwest jet, which had nearly 300 people aboard, had the detonator not failed, and the nation's outdated airport screening machines may need to be upgraded.

The bomb was built and the plot organized, say U.S. officials, by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen, just north of the capital city of Sanaa.

Authorities say the 23-year-old suspect spent months in Yemen being trained for the Christmas Day suicide mission.

Investigators believe Abdulmutallab was connected to al Qaeda by the same radical imam, American-born Anwar Awlaki, who is linked to the American Army major accused of opening fire at Fort Hood in November.

According to investigators, the bomb used yesterday was built in Yemen by a top al Qaeda bomb maker.

chevaliers-de-sion wrote:Another third world cockroach being allowed into the first world, and this is how we are repaid.... why not just say to hell with PC and prohibit all cockroachs from getting within 100 feet of an airplane. ..and by treating everyone to a small ham sandwich and a shot of whiskey.... Orthodox Jews could be excused from the ham. ... Anyone who refuses doesn't board the aircraft.


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Berrin wrote:The whole story is so funny and weird..Do they think that all the muslims, and non-muslims are so gullible to believe in such silly set-up, fictitious incident.

I don’t believe it at all. Next time to be more convincing, some people either jew or christian backed by their governments shall or should try to blow up a plane on the expense of the muslims...
Now that would be the way to keep up public opinion for the war against muslim countries and islam…

Ha haah..

Otherwise I will only regard this news as the latest episode of media hype and hearsay, and probably one of the examples of long chain of fabrications by either some sort of western regime or media provocator in order to justify their unjust fights/war in muslim countries where they are failing , given the large sums of public money spent on anti-terror measures and reconstructive efforts.

desertdudeshj wrote:Oh don't worry just like any other troll, he' strying to seek attention and spark controversy. Because its in only the virtual world anybody pays attention to them. In the real world they usually turn out to be pimply, pocket protector wearing, thick spectacled nerds.

Troll of Zion in real life

The tendency among supposedly Westernized Muslims living in the United States to unexpectedly lash out violently in an act of self-initiated (and usually small scale) Islamic terrorism.

Also abbreviated to “SJS” or “S.J.S.” Examples include Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar who drove his SUV into a crowd at the University of North Carolina in 2006, Naveed Alzal Haq who shot people at a Jewish Federation Center in Seattle also in 2006, Hesham Mohammed Hadayet who murdered people at the El Al terminal in the Los Angeles Airport in 2002 — among many others.

In all of these instances, the perpetrators had no known direct connection to any established group, and because of this the authorities inevitably refrain from describing their actions as “terrorism” — hence the sarcastic term “Sudden Jihad Syndrome.”

Flying Dutchman wrote:Sudden Jihad Syndrome

The tendency among supposedly Westernized Muslims living in the United States to unexpectedly lash out violently in an act of self-initiated (and usually small scale) Islamic terrorism.

Also abbreviated to “SJS” or “S.J.S.” Examples include Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar who drove his SUV into a crowd at the University of North Carolina in 2006, Naveed Alzal Haq who shot people at a Jewish Federation Center in Seattle also in 2006, Hesham Mohammed Hadayet who murdered people at the El Al terminal in the Los Angeles Airport in 2002 — among many others.

In all of these instances, the perpetrators had no known direct connection to any established group, and because of this the authorities inevitably refrain from describing their actions as “terrorism” — hence the sarcastic term “Sudden Jihad Syndrome.”

The definition should be extended to any supposedly Westernized Muslims living in the US or Europe. UK seem to be growing terrorists on trees.

event horizon wrote:Well, I didn't know that the CIA was instrumental in setting up al Qaeda. The only person who believes that seems to be a British reporter, IIRC. Let me know how the US set up al Qaeda, exactly, and if the US ever directly aided the Arab Afghans - my understanding is that the Arab Afghans were fiercely anti American and they were only funded by the Pakistanis and Saudis, the US directly aided the Afghan fighters, however.

May 25, 2003

'Charlie Wilson's War': Arming the Mujahedeen
By DAVID JOHNSTON

For most of his 24-year career in the House of Representatives, Charles Wilson was known for his abiding fondness for hot tubs, women and Scotch whiskey. His friends at the Central Intelligence Agency said, only partly in jest, that the Texas Democrat's reputation as a roue provided a perfect cover for his great passion, the mujahedeen rebellion against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan. During the 1980's, Wilson used his seat on a military appropriations subcommittee to steer billions of dollars in secret funding to the C.I.A. to funnel arms to the mujahedeen.

So it was hardly a surprise after the Soviets' humiliating withdrawal in 1989 that the C.I.A.'s spymasters invited Wilson out to celebrate at the agency's headquarters at Langley, Va. On a large movie screen in an auditorium at the George Bush Center for Intelligence flashed a huge quotation from Pakistan's president, Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, who had willingly allowed the C.I.A.'s arms pipeline to flow through his country. Zia credited Wilson with the defeat of the Russians in Afghanistan with the words, ''Charlie did it.''

In ''Charlie Wilson's War,'' George Crile, a veteran ''60 Minutes'' producer, recounts the story of Wilson's personal journey from the East Texas Bible Belt to Congress, where he became the secret patron of what was then the largest covert operation in C.I.A. history. Of course, the American effort to arm the mujahedeen must be measured against recent events like the Sept. 11 attacks. The Qaeda hijackings underscored how the American-financed war against the Soviets in Afghanistan helped create a political vacuum filled by the Taliban and Islamic extremists, who turned their deadly terrorism back against the United States.

Moreover, there was concern within intelligence circles about the hundreds of Stinger missile systems that the C.I.A. supplied to the mujahedeen forces in the 1980's to combat the Russians' most fearful weapon, the Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship. After the Soviet withdrawal, the agency embarked on a costly buyback program, but most of the missiles remained unaccounted for. American military commanders feared they might be used during the war in Afghanistan that followed the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

But in its time there was little dispute that the covert war was one of the most successful C.I.A. operations ever undertaken, a deadly confrontation conducted through a surrogate with the Soviet empire in its death throes. Only a handful of people in the government knew that behind the Afghan resistance was a pirate's crew of misfits, most notably Charlie Wilson himself, whom Crile affectionately profiles as the lawmaker who widened the war through a series of backroom deals on Capitol Hill that were never publicly disclosed or debated.

For most of his years in the House until he retired in 1996, Wilson rarely spoke on the House floor and was never associated with any of the great legislative issues of his day. He infuriated colleagues like Pat Schroeder, a Colorado Democrat, by calling her ''Babycakes,'' and acknowledged when he announced his retirement that ''at times I've been a reckless and rowdy public servant.'' But Crile asserts that Wilson's flaky public persona concealed a fervent anti-Communist and deeply ambitious politician, who built a power base in Congress that he used to pour money into the Afghan cause. In return for voting for military contracts in his colleagues' districts, Wilson won votes from his fellow lawmakers for the mujahedeen.

From a few million dollars in the early 1980's, support for the resistance grew to about $750 million a year by the end of the decade. The decisions were made in secret by Wilson and other lawmakers on the appropriations committee. To help make his case, Wilson exploited one of the decade's scandals, the Iran-contra affair, arguing that Democrats who were voting to cut off funding for the contras in Nicaragua could demonstrate their willingness to stand up to the Soviet empire by approving more money for the Afghan fighters.

''Charlie Wilson's War'' is a behind-the-scenes chronicle of a program that is still largely classified. Crile does not provide much insight into his reporting methods, but the book appears to be based on interviews with a number of the principals. The result is a vivid narrative, though a reader may wonder how much of this story is true in exactly the way Crile presents it. Still, few people who remember Wilson's years in Washington would discount even the wildest tales.

Crile recounts with relish Wilson's partying. There are many anecdotes of his overseas travels, first-class at taxpayers' expense, accompanied by former beauty queens who seem to pop up at events in conservative Islamic countries wearing skintight jumpsuits. In one odd moment, according to Crile, Wilson brought his own belly dancer from Texas to Cairo to entertain the Egyptian defense minister, who was secretly supplying the mujahedeen with millions of rounds of ammunition for the AK-47's that the C.I.A. was smuggling into Afghanistan. Her sultry dancing went far beyond the prudish norms of Cairo, but delighted the powerful minister.

Crile tells us that Wilson enjoyed driving to distraction a succession of C.I.A. officials as he prodded the agency to supply the fighters with increasingly more lethal weapons. The agency bureaucrats were content with a modest program designed to bleed the Soviets, whereas Wilson envisioned a war that the mujahedeen could win. As the money for the war began to flow, the C.I.A. put one of its own misfits in charge of the operation, Gust Avrakotos. He formed a small band of agency officers who quickly got behind the war in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of automatic weapons, antitank guns, even satellite intelligence maps, redrawn in the form of crude maps that might have been penned by the mujahedeen themselves -- all of it was carried across Pakistan's border into Afghanistan on the backs of mules procured by the C.I.A. from as far away as the Tennessee hill country.

On Feb. 15, 1989, Gen. Boris Gromov, commander of the Soviets' 40th Army, walked across Friendship Bridge as the last Russian to leave Afghanistan. The C.I.A. cable from the Islamabad station to Langley said, ''We won.'' Wilson's own note to Avrakotos said simply, ''We did it.''


David Johnston, a senior Washington correspondent for The Times, covers terrorism and national security issues.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company |

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said the plot was to avenge US attacks on militants in Yemen, a US monitoring organisation reported.

Osama bin Laden is no more a true representative of Islam than General Mladic, who commanded the Serbian forces, could be held up as an example of Christianity. After all, it is written in the Qur'an that we were made into different peoples not that we might despise each other, but that we might understand each other.

Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. Inexplicably, and with disastrous consequences, it never appears to have occurred to Washington that once Russia was out of the way, Bin Laden's organisation would turn its attention to the west.

The U.S. government has been criticized for allowing Pakistan to channel a disproportionate amount of its funding to controversial Afghan resistance leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,[18] who Pakistani officials believed was "their man".[19] Hekmatyar has been criticized for killing other mujahideen and attacking civilian populations, including shelling Kabul with American-supplied weapons, causing 2,000 casualties. Hekmatyar was said to be friendly with Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda, who was running an operation for assisting "Afghan Arab" volunteers fighting in Afghanistan, called Maktab al-Khadamat. Alarmed by his behavior, Pakistan leader General Zia warned Hekmatyar, "It was Pakistan that made him an Afghan leader and it is Pakistan who can equally destroy him if he continues to misbehave."[20]

In the late 1980s, Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, concerned about the growing strength of the Islamist movement, told President George H. W. Bush, "You are creating a Frankenstein."[21]

The U.S. says that all of its funds went to native Afghan rebels and denies that any of its funds were used to supply Osama bin Laden or foreign Arab mujahideen. It is estimated that 35,000 foreign Muslims from 43 Islamic countries participated in the war.[22][23][24][25]

shafique wrote:Interesting also to note the reason AQAP (Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsular) give for the attempted attack:

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said the plot was to avenge US attacks on militants in Yemen, a US monitoring organisation reported.

I expect eh-oh will be quoting QB1 and writing to AQAP to tell them they are wrong, and should state that they want to kill all non-Muslims because the Quran tells them so.



Cheers,
Shafique

Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. Inexplicably, and with disastrous consequences, it never appears to have occurred to Washington that once Russia was out of the way, Bin Laden's organisation would turn its attention to the west.

Hey, of course the US don't admit to funding Al Qaeda and training Bin Laden - you don't expect them to admit it do you??

As for the motive for the attempted bombing - the Yemenis are quite clear - it is because of attacks against them

Ha ha - as I said, you can ask FD about the attacks against the Yemeni rebels and how long they've been going on.

I just find Robin Cook

Cook is quite specific

shafique wrote:As I said, you are free to believe the US denials. I don't.

Cheers,
Shafique

The story about bin Laden and the CIA — that the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden — is simply a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. In fact, there are very few things that bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the U.S. government agree on. They all agree that they didn't have a relationship in the 1980s. And they wouldn't have needed to. Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. The real story here is the CIA did not understand who Osama was until 1996, when they set up a unit to really start tracking him.

It was always galling to the Americans, and I can understand their point of view, that although they paid the piper they could not call the tune. The CIA supported the mujahideen by spending the taxpayers' money, billions of dollars of it over the years, on buying arms, ammunition, and equipment. It was their secret arms procurement branch that was kept busy. It was, however, a cardinal rule of Pakistan's policy that no Americans ever become involved with the distribution of funds or arms once they arrived in the country. No Americans ever trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen, and no American official ever went inside Afghanistan.

event horizon wrote:Oh, I definitely agree - one will have to choose from a British government employee.