Nigerian charged for trying to blow up US airliner

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Nigerian man with  possible links to al Qaeda militants was charged yesterday for  trying to blow up a US passenger plane with an explosive device  on approach into Detroit, US officials said.

The suspect, who was being treated for extensive burns at a  Michigan hospital, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the  Christ-mas Day flight from Amster-dam. The passengers, two of whom suffered minor injuries, disembarked safely from the Delta Air  Lines plane.

“We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a White  House official told Reuters.

The Justice Department said in a statement that the man, whom  it identified as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, from Nigeria, had  been charged with attempting to blow up the plane by setting  alight the explosive device that was attached to his body.

He was due to make a court appearance later yesterday, it  said.

A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained  PETN, also known as pentaerythritol. That was one of the  explosives carried by Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” who was  convicted of trying to blow up a plane headed to the United States  months after the 2001 attacks.

“This alleged attack on a US airplane on Christmas Day shows  that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all  times,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in the statement.

“We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and  we will use all measures available to our government to ensure  that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to  justice.”

Investigators were trying to confirm the man’s claims that he  has connections to al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001  attacks in the United States.

Citing US officials, the Wall Street Journal said the  Nigerian man had told investigators that al Qaeda operatives in  Yemen had given him the device and instructions on how to detonate  it.

Obama briefed

ABC News reported that the suspect told FBI agents he had  lived with an al Qaeda leader for about a month in Yemen, where he  was trained in what to do and how to do it.

Passengers and crew said Abdulmutallab spent about 20 minutes  in the plane’s bathroom as it approached Detroit and then covered  himself with a blanket upon returning to his seat, the Justice  Department said.

They then heard popping noises similar to firecrackers and  smelled a foul odor, while some observed Abdulmutallab’s trouser  leg and the wall of the plane on fire, it said. When asked by a  flight attendant what he had in his pocket, the suspect replied  “explosive device,” the statement added.

ABC said the explosive device consisted of a six-inch (15.25 cm) packet of powder and a syringe with a liquid, which were sewn  into the man’s underwear so they would be near his testicles and  unlikely to be detected.

The FBI found the remnants of a syringe near Abdulmutallab’s  seat.

In Nigeria, Abdul Mutallab, son of prominent former banker  Umaru Mutallab, told Reuters that the suspect was his brother. He  said their father was planning to meet with police in Nigeria.

US President Barack Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii with  his family, held a secure conference call on Saturday with two top  security officials and was monitoring the situation, the White  House said. Earlier, he instructed officials to step up air travel  security.

Passengers arriving in Detroit on the same flight from  Amsterdam yesterday, a day after the incident, reported tighter  security, which delayed the departure.

Jennifer Allen, 41, said all passengers boarding the flight in  Amsterdam yesterday were frisked, and the search was so thorough  that she was asked by a female security guard to remove a ball of  facial tissue from her pocket.

“It was a thorough pat-down. It wasn’t a quick rub,” she  said.