[Vision2020] Father Warned of Bomb Suspect Son

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of CBS' Sunday Morning at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/26/world/main6024210.shtml

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Report: Father Warned of Bomb Suspect Son
Alleged Terrorist May be Child of Prominent Nigerian Banker; Alhaji Umaru
Mutallab Meets With Investigators

A prominent Nigerian banker warned authorities about his son's extremist
religious views six months before he allegedly attempted to blow up a
U.S.-bound passenger jet Christmas day, according to a local newspaper.

Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, the former chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria,
said Saturday he is meeting with security officials in Abuja, Nigeria's
capital, because he fears his son may have been the man taken into custody
after the failed terrorist attack.

The elder Mutallab said his son, identified by U.S. officials as Umar
Farouk Abdulmutallab, was a student in London. He said his son left London
to travel, though he did not know where to.

Mutallab says: "I believe he might have been to Yemen, but we are
investigating to determine that."

The Nigerian newspaper This Day, citing family members, reports Mutallab
took his concerns about his son to the U.S. embassy and local authorities
six months ago. A source close to him said he is surprised his son was
allowed to travel to the U.S. after his warnings, according to the report.

On Saturday, a American official revealed the U.S. had known about
Abdulmutallab's possible ties to terrorist groups for at least two years.

Abdulmutallab was on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list,
which is maintained by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, and
includes about 550,000 names.

People on that list are not necessarily on the no-fly list. U.S. Rep.
Peter King said Abdulmutallab was not on the no-fly list.

The attempted bombing happened as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from
Amsterdam prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday.

The attack began with a pop and a puff of smoke - sending passengers
scrambling to subdue the suspect, who claimed to be acting on orders from
al Qaeda to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said.

Travelers said they smelled smoke, saw a glow, and heard what sounded like
firecrackers. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the
man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device.

"It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase," said Peter Smith, a
passenger from the Netherlands. "First there was a pop, and then (there)
was smoke."

The passenger who pounced on the suspect was later identified as Jasper
Schuringa, a director from Amsterdam. In extinguishing the explosive
device, Schuringa told CNN he suffered minor burns to his hands.

Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut
off and his legs burned. Authorities told CBS News he suffered
third-degree burns.

A high-ranking law enforcement official told CBS News that the suspect
apparently used a syringe to inject a chemical into powder located near
his groin, a technique not seen in previous attempted attacks. It's
possible, the source said, that this incident was a test of whether the
materials could pass screening and how effective they might be at causing
damage.

Another official identified the explosive substance used as PETN, which
was carried in a soft plastic container - possibly a condom - though much
of the packaging was destroyed in the fire.

According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, PETN is a highly explosive,
colorless organic compound, and is related to nitroglycerin.

The White House said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism and
stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel. Dutch
anti-terrorism authorities said the U.S. has asked all airlines to take
extra precautions on flights worldwide that are bound for the United
States.

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.

One law enforcement official said the man claimed to have been instructed
by al Qaeda 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.

"This does not strike us as having the earmarks of any kind of
well-planned or well-orchestrated attack," a senior security official told
CBS News justice correspondent Bob Orr.

But some officials are concerned the suspect might have been directed by
others, pointing to the fact that he was seated near the bulkhead of the
plane - a location where an explosion would do significant damage.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the
investigation was continuing.

Intelligence and anti-terrorism officials in Yemen said they were
investigating claims by the suspect that he picked up the explosive device
and instructions on how to use it in that country. The officials spoke on
condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the
media.

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.

Mutallab also had "significant UK links" and was "most probably
radicalized" there, a British counter-terrorism official told CBS News.

The suspect boarded in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to
Detroit, Rep. Peter King, the ranking GOP member of the House Homeland
Security Committee, told CNN. 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.

Dutch airline KLM says the connection in Amsterdam from Lagos, Nigeria, to
Detroit involves a change in carrier and a change in aircraft.

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.

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."

Nigeria's information minister, Dora Akunyili, condemned the attempted
bombing. She said the government has opened its own investigation into the
suspect and will work with U.S. authorities.

"We state very clearly that as a nation we abhor all forms of violence,"
Akunyili said in a statement issued Saturday.

London's Metropolitan Police also was working with U.S. officials, said a
spokeswoman who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department
policy. A search was under way Saturday at an apartment building where
Mutallab is said to have lived in a posh West London neighborhood.

University College London issued a statement saying a student named Umar
Farouk Abdulmutallab studied mechanical engineering there between
September 2005 and June 2008. But the college said it wasn't certain the
student was the same person who was on the plane.

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.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee, said in a statement he would hold hearings in January to look
into the incident and related security issues.

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 Qaeda 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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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho