Source: U.S. knew of would-be airliner bomber's terror ties
Nigerian man, claiming orders from Al-Qaida, reportedly tries to blow up Detroit-bound passenger airliner.
By The Associated Press Tags: al-Qaida Israel newsAn official briefed on the attack on a Detroit airliner said Saturday the U.S. has known for at least two years that the suspect in the attack could have terrorist ties.
The commotion began as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members from Amsterdam, prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday. Travelers said they smelled smoke, saw a glow, and heard what sounded like firecrackers. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on a Nigerian man, claiming to be acting on the orders of Al-Qaida to blow up the airliner, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device.
The official told The Associated Press that the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, has been on a list that includes people with known or suspected contact or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organization. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list is maintained by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. It includes about 550,000 names.
People on that list are not necessarily on the no-fly list. U.S. Rep. Peter King said Mutallab was not on the no-fly list.
King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said no federal air marshals were on the flights from Nigeria to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Detroit. Mutallab did not go through full-body image screening at either airport, the congressman said.
Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Mutallab would have been re-screened at the Amsterdam airport after his flight from Nigeria. Thompson and others say the Amsterdam airport has long had a good reputation for security.
Thompson said he plans to hold a hearing in January about the incident.
"It's still safe to fly," Thompson said.
Peter Smith, a passenger on the plane from the Netherlands said following the incident that "it sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase. First there was a pop, and then [there] was smoke."
Smith said one passenger, sitting opposite the man, climbed over passengers, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.
Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned. Multiple law enforcement officials also said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive was strapped there. The components were apparently mixed in-flight and included a powdery substance, multiple law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said.
The White House said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism and stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel. The incident was reminiscent of Richard Reid, who tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes, but was subdued by other passengers.
Multiple law enforcement officials identified the suspect in Friday's attempted attack as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. He was described as Nigerian.
One law enforcement official said the man claimed to have been instructed by Al-Qaida to detonate the plane over U.S. soil, but other law enforcement officials cautioned that such claims could not be verified immediately, and said the man may have been acting independently - inspired but not specifically trained or ordered by terror groups.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.
The man was being questioned Friday evening. An intelligence official said he was being held and treated in an Ann Arbor, Mich., hospital. The hospital said one passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, but referred all inquiries to the FBI.
Melinda Dennis, who was seated in the front row of the plane, said the man involved was brought to the front row and seated near her. She said his legs appeared to be badly burned and his pants were cut off. She said he was taken off the plane handcuffed to a stretcher.
One law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mutallab's name had surfaced earlier on at least one U.S. intelligence database, but he was not on a watch list or a no-fly list.
The flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit, said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the ranking GOP member of the House Homeland Security Committee. A spokeswoman for police at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam declined comment about the case or about security procedures at the airport for Flight 253.
Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest with a heavy load of transit passengers from Africa and Asia to North America, strictly enforces European security regulations including only allowing small amounts of liquid in hand luggage that must be placed inside clear plastic bags.
After the attempted attack, passengers to the U.S. were being frisked at the gate as an added security measure, said KLM spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang.
A spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Akin Olukunle, said all passengers and their luggage are screened before boarding international flights. He also said the airport in Lagos cleared a U.S. Transportation Security Administration audit in November.
"We had a pass mark," Olukunle said. "We actually are up to standards in all senses."
Delta Air Lines Inc., which acquired Northwest last year, said a passenger caused a disturbance, was subdued, and the crew requested that law enforcement officials meet the flight.
Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane's descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him."
"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," he said.
Federal officials said there would be heightened security for both domestic and international flights at airports across the country, but the intensified levels would likely be "layered," differing from location to location depending on alerts, security concerns and other factors.
Passengers can expect to see heightened screening, more bomb-sniffing dog and officer units and behavioral-detection specialists at some airports, but there will also be unspecified less visible precautions as well, officials said.
The FBI and the Homeland Security Department issued an intelligence note on Nov. 20 about the threat picture for the holiday season, which was obtained by The Associated Press. At the time, officials said they had no specific information about attack plans by al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.
President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. Officials said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.
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Nobody ever said that either people or computers were perfect Let's not forget that the USA issued visas to all the WTC bombers and their accomplices Profiling should be mandatory, all they have to do is emulate the way EL AL and Israeli security do it, if someone doesn't like it, they can take a bus
"U.S. KNEW of bomber's terror ties" Then please explain how he got a visa to the States ? Anyone applying for a visa undergoes a thorough check. Is it possible that shady elements have infiltrated the Visa department in that particular Consulate. Or perhaps,this is a new phenomenon more widespread than can be admitted !?
The knew and didn't take any action to exterminate him. The idiots were waiting for him to blow up a plane. The idiots who knew and didn't do anything should be jailed for life!
and they blame el al security for beeing so rigid! THANKS GOD.
US Intelligence was supposed to be reformed after 9-11, but the then admin resisted with every fiber of its being. They have 25+ screening lists and no way to easily reconcile or verify them. They've even had Ted Kennedy on one list and it took months to get him off. It's charitably known as a cluster f*@!. It is unknown to what degree the new information coordinator can straighten out the situation. He'll be nicknamed a czar and the partisan Bolsheviks will be out to get him from tomorrow. Clearly the intel lessons of 9-11 haven't made it through to the bureaucrats. They still have turf to protect and to many bureaucrats, that is more important the saving lives.
As lots of Detroit area people are of Arab and Muslim descent, it is likely a reason that flight was targeted. His name wouldn't stick out as it might to another area. And with 25+ security lists to wade through, TSA may or may not have screwed up. The passengers were the target and the heroes.
How incompetent are those working for the US intelligence agencies? You'd think after the recent event at Fort Hood that finally ALL warning would be taken seriously and yet, after this guy's own father calls and raises a flag...they guy still gets aboard a plane. I now completely understand how Ahmadinejad can turn and laugh in the face of the US....it's like the decline of Rome. So very sad!
1) He was seated near the window, in one of two seats directly over the wing, in the area where the apparently thermal device, would have done the most damage 2) The device, if it been properly ignited, was large enough to cause a catastrophe 3) Of course, with your usual bravado, you would have remained seated waiting for it to explode 4) Mentally deranged, but quite capable and willing to kill, self-descriptive wouldn't you say?
Pray tell, what were the excuses for the Hijacking of the Achille Lauro and all the planes that were also hijacked and then blown up by arab terrorsts? Seems to me it was Right Wing Arab Fanatics that did those nasty deeds Let's not forget the WTC, Pentagon, Fight 93, etal, and toss in the Pan Am destroyed of Lockerbie Even you can't blame it all on Jews, though you would love to, it seems the Muslims have a world wide problem with Dhimmi's and each other Enjoy the following, it might open your hate filled eyes www.thereligionofpeace.com
How funny! They have sufficient data to put many innocent US citizens on the "No Fly List", including government officials and it takes forever to take them off the list. Bunch of incompetent, brainless people working for US intelligence.
How funny! They have sufficient data to put many innocent US citizens on the "No Fly List", including government officials and it takes forever to take them off the list. Bunch of incompetent, brainless people working for US intelligence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens Salman Rushdie controversy Main article: Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie The singer attracted controversy in 1989, during an address to students at London's Kingston University, where he was asked about the fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie. The media interpreted his response as support for the fatwa. Yusuf released a statement the following day denying that he supported vigilantism, and claiming that he had merely recounted the legal Islamic punishment for blasphemy. In a BBC interview, he displayed a newspaper clipping from that time period, which quotes from his statement. Subsequent comments made by him in 1989 on a British television programme were also seen as being in support of the fatwa. In a statement in the FAQ section of his web site [49], Yusuf asserted that he was joking and that the show was improperly edited. In the years since these comments, he has repeatedly denied ever calling for the death of Rushdie or supporting the fatwa.[4][42]
Why are we wasting time asking my grandmother to remove her shoes and then confiscating her toothpaste? In the name of political correctness? The best security requires profiling - by ethnicity, religion and country. El Al would have never have even sold this terrorist a ticket.
I have been through that airport a number of times and the security there is very strict. Having caught him alive I am sure they will find out how he got the explosives past them.
You fill in the blanks.
Heard Emerson say that although this guy's name was on a watch list they had not completed investgating him to be put on a no-fly list. They can't just bar anyone with a foreign sounding name from flying - they need to make sure he's a danger and there is a process. In this case it showed that the current system isn't fast or good enough. I say again, thank God he was caught before killing hundreds of people.
What a dumb question. Who cares what religion the passengers are? The point is that no thanks to airport security 300 people's lives were saved including many Muslims and others including atheists. We do have freedome of and from religion in the US you know.
The passenger who I saw interviewed was indeed a Muslim on his way home to the US after a business visit to the Gulf. Al Qaeda kills without a thought that many of their victims are Muslims. The point is that whoever stopped him, Muslim or whatever is a HERO.
Don't you remember? You blamed the US for Al Qaeda actions.
makes me proud our people subdued him.
It's so easy to go to the toilets and there, alone, you can explode what you want. Failing to do so .......must be a trick from secret service.
"said fellow was on a watch list." Cat Stevens is on a watch list, too. Are you sure that you are not?
"Planet Earth isn't interested in silly stories like this." No they're (UK) too busy watching Celebrity Come Dancing and the X Factor.
If the professionals from al Quaida were behind this: 1) They would use some real explosive, not a firecracker. 2) They would explode it at cruise height for the sake of sudden decompression to inflict the lethal damage. Much noise about which will turn out to be a mentally deranged Nigerian with wild phantasies ...
does anything to hide waht you are?
Names there are. Dates of birth change. Not all the subsequent data flows, yet many are caught. Its somewhat akin to a fish net, some get through, mostly due to a badly mended or unconscious fisherman. The attempts by Al Qaeda are so numerous that many US Security experts do expect some fish to make it through and in some cases those that are now homegrown will manage a terrorist bombing inside the US. As they say, when there is a will, there is a way. Those passengers were lucky. Have a nice day, from sunny snowy Swiss Alps.
Obama and you can bet that soon or later terrorist will succeed.Obama open the door to the terrorist by closing guantamo by suppressing BUSH'measures against terrorits.the fight againt terrorists need to have testicular not the heart to lead it.Obama is not well placed to lead it.
serious. Surely you understand that said fellow was on a watch list. He belongs to Al Qaeda. Those are the folk that are fighting you troops in Afghanistan. After all, some men and women of the US and UK Coalition troops have died this month. Not to mention a few thousand in New York. One can be sure that Homeland Security does also read Haaretz. Just luck, that all 200 odd civilian passengers made it safely to the land of the free. May G-d bless America and her troops, fighting for FREEDOM.
What would seem most important is body language as one of the clues, there are more that they teach based on their expertise of living w// terrorists longer than we. "Profiling" has these elements first, the terrorist could be of any ethnic background, unfortunately, most recent acts of terror have been perpetrated by muslim extremists. No one can afford to ignore the obvious.
Yes, Jewish people believe in G-d and a man cannot be a Mason unless he believes in G-d. I am a American who is of the Jewish faith and a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Who sets security policy and hires the personnel at Frankfurt? I'd bet it's not the State of Israel or the USA. Holland is just as sovereign as Israel or the USA. And just because we no longer torture doesn't mean we have tied the hands of our security apparatus in the US. The Bush/Cheney people set up the dozens of competing watch lists and refused to straighten things out. They were too busy paying off cronies.
abdulmutallab was on a u.s. intelligence watch list. yet he was given a u.s. visa. the question is why was he given a u.s. visa. the problem is obviously with present u.s. policy. the target was a plane that was to land on u.s. soil. it makes no difference who the passengers were.
...and a Merry Christmas to you. Sadly Chris, even after all your lost years on this forum, you still happen to be clueless regrading history. I would suppose it is do to you dare I say anti-semitic and Israel fixated worldview. The Moslem struggle with the West did not begin with the arrival of David Ben Gurion to the Holyland. Moslems fought the Brits and the Hindus for a hundred years in the Kush (India). The Brits fought with the Libyans and Sudanese for the same amount of time. Pakistan has been attacking her neighbors since her inception. Most of their hatred is focused on the Hindus. What is interesting about all this is that none of these events have anything to do with the creation of a Jewish State. The "Reconquistas" from Morocco, who blew up Madrid wanted Toledo, not Jerusalem. Chris your hatred has gotten the best of you, time to grow up.
South Africa is attaching El Al for its racial profiling security measures in the airport in South Africa before boarding El Al flights and the area around the check in area. What do you prefer? a slight and partly insulting inconvenience or death by a terrorist.
Ah, yes, the predictable response from BBS News -- to point the finger at the targets of this terrorism. Applying this logic, perhaps the hero on the plane should be tried (and convicted, in abscentia) for war-crimes because he hit a nearby passenger as he lunged to subdue the terrorist. Open borders and economic prosperity for Gaza would benefit us all. We'd love to see that happen. When the citizens of Gaza exhibit the same alertness and zero tolerance (for terrorism) that the passengers on 253 exhibited, there will be no need for Israelis to put our own young people in harm's way to subdue the terrorists or build walls to quadron off the evil-doers and their sympathizers. Alas, it is no more possible to avoid collateral damage in Gaza than it was to avoid it subduing a terrorist on the plane. The solution to all this madness is obvious. As soon as our "peace-loving" neighbours choose justice ad reign in Al Qaida and Hamas.
Just shows how lousy the Dutch security checks in Schiphol Amsterdam airport are. Here, security is a joke. Compared to IL and USA anyway. How could this man board the plane with those explosives? Good thing nothing big happened here. Perhaps the guy was too stupid to even carry out such an attack. Lucky for the passengers and crew.
Only the Israelis do it right. We try to find out what is on the passenger's mind, not what is in his bag. How many dead innocents will it take before the US realizes it has to do the same?
TSA is not responsible for airline security in Holland, the Dutch government is. They are quite thorough even if they don't do body cavity searches on everybody. I've been through their security. It's is likely that some of the passengers who stopped this guy are Muslim Americans. Details will emerge. And since Detroit passengers were the target, it is unlikely that the intended victims were Hindus or Zoroastrians.
He did not think it was a firecracker. Would you like such a firecracker on your next plane flight?
abdulmutallab, the suspect in this terror attempt, was on a u.s. intelligence watch list for many months. yet abdulmutallab was given a visa to enter the u.s. nor was he searched specifically, as should have been done, had airlines been warned to do so. the saudis had issued extremely strict travel restriction a few days ago. they disallowed even toothpaste from being carried on airplanes. this advisory should have given pause to all other countries. the terrible failure by the u.s. in this case, follows by only some months the slaughter by u.s. army psychiatrist hasan of more than a dozen members of the u.s. armed forces. hasan, too, was well known to u.s. intelligence. however, no intelligence agency can do its job properly if the policy makers are tying their hands.
Also for global warming. I trust you'll find a twisted reason.
are all of you this ignorant. it was investigated and its a firecracker
cast leads is what hamas caused to itself. they wanted to fight so they caused a war. what is so difficult to understand?
I don't want to hear or read or see anymore nonsense about "bringing the troops home." This war will not end until all Al-Qaida are killed or captured. They must be killed before they kill us. At least having our men in battle means that we are fighting back against Al-Qaida and making it less likely for a foreign country to invade us as long as we have a prepared army.
Obviously revenge for yesterday's successful drone attacks in Yemen, not reported by the mainstream media, which killed not only Hasan the Fort Hood Arab terrorist mass murderer's Mohammedan commando, but 29 other high level Al Qa`eda terrorists as well.
........so quickly that he managed to fly 7 hours from Amsterdam to Detroit and had time to try igniting the device Just dumb's luck again, America, just dumb's luck! When will we understand that we can not play with these guys by our rules, they are not impressed by our naivete.
........so quickly that he managed to fly 7 hours from Amsterdam to Detroit and had time to try igniting the device Just dumb's luck again, America, just dumb's luck! When will we understand that we can not play with these guys by our rules, they are not impressed by our naivete.
Planet Earth wants more stories about Cast Lead. If not for folks like Lieberman, the former nightclub bouncer from Moldovia, Al Qaida would not conduct such operations.
...came to their senses, the world would (most likely) be interested in addressing actions (like) this....:) ...At least that is my (own) opinion.....??:)
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to all those passengers. In return somewhere someday a Military General will be born who will know how and where to find you quickly, and do to you what you attempted to do to all those innocent passengers.
He wants to die a martyr so let him die as a martyr, for the Americans/Brits/Canadians. It would be a good way for him to redeem himself and get his 72 virgins.
Just heard Syed Jafri tell the entire story and it seems passengers jumped on him, put out the fire and held him until landing. Bravo to them and shame on US air security for allowing a terrorist with bomb makings through security. They have to tighten their system and fast since Al Qaeda seems to be trying every which way to hit us again.
When, oh when, will the civilized world wake up? We (Jews) know you all hate us. But are you all actually willing to die at the hand of Islam just to appease your hatred of Jews? For crying out loud, no one in his/her right mind could deny the following statement: Were it not for its hatred of Jews, the non-Muslim world would have long ago declared war on, and eradicated once and for all, this sick, twisted religion.