What do you think of this young man – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
28 December 2009
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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (born December 22, 1986) is a Nigerian man who allegedly tried to detonate an explosive or incendiary device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009 which was en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan.[1][2]
Contents
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* 1 Background
o 1.1 Reported contact with Islamic extremists
* 2 Attack
* 3 Aftermath
* 4 References
[edit] Background
Abdulmutallab was born in Lagos. He is the son of former First Bank PLC chairman Alhaji Umaru Mutallab. The family comes from the town of Katsina. Abdulmutallab attended the British School of Lomé, in Lomé, the capital of Togo. He was described as a ‘dream student’ by his history teacher Michael Rimmer.[3] The school is popular with wealthy Nigerians, where he obtained his International Baccalaureate, then proceeded to University College London, where he was enrolled in the department of mechanical engineering from September 2005 to June 2008. While in London, he reportedly lived in a ₤4 million apartment in Mansfield Street, in the city’s West End.[4]
The Telegraph interviewed Mike Rimmer, his high school teacher, who reported that he had defended the Taliban during classroom discussions of their social policies, and their destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.[5] Rimmer described his family as “wonderful”, said he had been fond of Abdulmutallab, thought he had been playing “devil’s advocate”, thought he had really understood Abdulmutallab, but concluded he hadn’t, after all.
[edit] Reported contact with Islamic extremists
“ “His father, a prominent Nigerian banker and former government official, phoned the American Embassy in Abuja in October with a warning that his son had developed radical views, had disappeared and might have traveled to Yemen. But embassy officials did not revoke the young man’s visa to enter the United States, which was good until June 2010 . . . . And when they passed the information on to Washington, Mr. Abdulmutallab’s name was added to 550,000 others with some alleged terrorist connections — but not to the no-fly list.”[6] ”
Abdulmutallab apparently visited Yemen before returning to Nigeria in December 2009, telling his family he had traveled there to learn Arabic.[4]
The senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Pete Hoekstra, said officials in the Obama administration and officials with law enforcement information access told him that Abdulmutallab may have had contact with Anwar al-Awlaki.[7][8]
[edit] Attack
From Nigeria, Abdulmutallab travelled to Amsterdam, where he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day. Passengers reported smelling smoke and saw that something in his lap was on fire. Fellow passenger Jasper Schuringa, a Dutch film director, jumped on Abdulmutallab, and he and other passengers subdued him as flight attendants used fire extinguishers to douse the flames.[9] At this point, Abdulmutallab was taken toward the front of the airplane cabin, and was seen to have lost his pants due to the fire, and had burns on his legs.[10] After being taken into custody, Abdulmutallab told authorities he had been directed by al-Qaeda. He said that the device was obtained in Yemen, along with instructions from al-Qaeda on how to use it. Authorities have not yet confirmed his statements.[11]
The attack came near the eighth anniversary of the attempt by Richard Reid to blow up a plane using explosives hidden in his shoe. The Taliban also released a video of captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl on the day of the attack. The Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda recently came under pressure from the Yemeni government with aid from the United States.[12]
[edit] Aftermath
President Barack Obama reportedly has ordered a review of detection and watch list procedures in the aftermath of the incident. The secretary of homeland security acknowleged that the aviation security system had failed in this instance.[6]. U.S. officials have ordered that all passengers boarding international flights to the U.S. be patted down.[6]
United States Senator Joe Lieberman called for the Obama administration to pre-emptively act on curbing terrorism in Yemen and to halt plans to repatriate Guantanamo captives to Yemen.[13] Peter Hoekstra, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee also called for a halt to the repatriation of Guantanamo captives from Yemen.[14] Bennie Thompson Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, also called for a halt to all current plans with regard to Yemen in light of Abdulmutullab’s ties there.[15] Congressional Representative Peter T. King also called for a halt to the repatriations.[16]
Immediately after the attack Lateef Adegbite, secretary general of Nigeria’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs condemned the attack and stated “We are embarrassed by this incident and we strongly condemn the alleged action by this young man. We do not think that there is any organised Islamic group in Nigeria that is inclined to such a criminal and violent act. We condemn such an extreme viewpoint and action.”[3]
Sudeep Reddy, writing for the Wall Street Journal, and other reporters, wrote that Abdulmutallab’s suspected ties to jihadist from Yemen will complicate American President Barack Obama’s plans to repatriate up to 80 Yemeni captives in Guantanamo.[17]
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