LAGOS, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government announced a probe on Saturday into the attempted attack by its national on a U.S. passenger plane.
In a statement, the government authorized the security department to take steps to "identify" the suspect and the motives behind the bombing attempt.
U. S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid, which failed when the suspect, a 23-year-old Nigerian, tried to detonate it before the landing of an AirbusA330 wide-body jet at a Detroit airport. All the 278 passengers onboard the plane were evacuated, with the suspect burned and several others slightly injured.
2. Nigerian man linked to al-Qaeda, flew via Amsterdam to US, got the explosives in Yemen naturally. Miraculously gets past security with his explosives.
bdul Mudallad, a 23 year-old Nigerian burnt his leg trying to ignite an explosive device on the jet with 278 passengers on board. Mr. Mutallab reportedly told investigators he had links to al-Qaeda and had received the explosives in Yemen. U.S. intelligence official said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it. Mr. Mudallad was an engineering student at University College London.
According to the federal “situational awareness” bulletin: “The subject is claiming to have extremist affiliation and that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used.”
Fellow passengers who smelled smoke and heard cracking sounds reportedly rushed to subdue the Nigerian. Mr. Syed Jafri one of the passengers aboard the airline told MSNBC television network that he had been seated three rows behind the suspect and had seen a glow and noticed a smoke smell. "A young man behind me jumped on him. Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," Mr. Jafri was quoted.
Another unnamed passenger said he heard a pop sound and saw a smoke and flames, before the suspect was reprimanded. The suspect later told the US authorities he had taped explosive powder to his leg and used a syringe of chemicals to mix with the powder that was to cause explosion, MSNBC reported.
The plane which flew from Amsterdam was to land at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport Friday afternoon. The suspect was reported to have traveled from Lagos international airport in Nigeria on board KLM Flight 588 and made a connection in Amsterdam on to Northwest 253. According to ABC News his visa stated that he was traveling to the US for a religious ceremony. Initial reports were that he had lit firecrackers on board the Airbus 330, which was carrying 278 passengers. According to U.S authorities, Mr. Muttalab was reportedly on a US intelligence “watch-list” but not on the US Government’s no-fly list.
The US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee chair, Republican Peter King, has said that investigators were looking into whether the incident was part of a larger plot and a worldwide alert had been raised. However additional screening measures has been put into effect since the incident. The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing shortly before noon when a smoke detector alarm went off.
The Nigerian Diaspora have meanwhile expressed disappointment and concern over the susceptibility of al-Qaeda sleeper cells amongst predominantly Northern Muslim Nigerians. The Nigerian Taliban known as Boko Haram, an anti-western extremist Muslim group that sprung up in Northern Nigeria in July and threatened state civility in Nigeria were armed with machetes, knives, home-made hunting rifles and petrol bombs.
The group went on rampage in several states across Northern Nigeria, attacking churches, police stations, prisons and government buildings, and demanding sharia law for all Nigeria as opposed to democratic western-styled education and ideals.
After the sects uprising in northern Nigeria, many beheaded bodies were found in the sect’s headquarters, including at least three Christian preachers and the second in command of the military operation. Hundreds of sect members were also killed by Nigerian security forces in a major clampdown to dismantle the sect. Over 700 deaths related to the violence was reported.
The presence of an al-Qaeda branch operating across the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, Morocco, Mali and Niger and Nigeria’s porous borders was confirmed when a report submitted to top government officials in 2007 had identified and classified the Boko Haram sect as a "murderous religious group" that had been train by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. State Security Service of Nigeria stated that "the group was linked to Al Qaeda through some of its members including Barah Abdul and Mohamed Al-Amin who were in Afghanistan and have strong links with some Al Qaeda leaders".
source: afrik.com3. 12/14/09: US sends special forces to Yemen amid crisis
US special forces have reportedly been sent to Yemen to train its army, as the Yemeni military backed by the Saudi Arabian army has been fighting local Houthi fighters in the north of the country.
The development comes amid fears that foreign military intervention in the country has put Yemeni civilians in dire condition.
American officials told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that US forces have been sent to Yemen to prevent the country from turning into a "reserve base" for al-Qaeda.
The move to strengthen Yemen's army comes at a time that the country's army is not fighting with al-Qaeda militants, which are based in the southern parts of the country.
read more @ press tv
4. let's recap
Nigeria's president has been in a hospital in Saudi Arabia for a month, leaving Nigeria in political chaos. Oil companies are trying to get deals done but cannot because the president has not delegated his authority and remains behind some sort of information firewall in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has been fighting Yemeni rebels also for a month. Supposedly al-Qaeda is in Yemen. The rebels are conflated with al-Qaeda.
US forces go to Saudi Arabia to help fight the Yemeni "al-Qaeda" rebels. They kill civilians. al-Qaeda has a news conference, seemingly unafraid of exposure.
A Nigerian somehow gets explosives from Yemen, not sure when or how, and flies to the US, via Amsterdam, supposedly on a religious purpose, and explodes the firecrackers on his leg. He is apprehended and claims to be linked to al-Qaeda. The Nigerian government vows to investigate.
Just waiting on how this ties back to Iran.....
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