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Christmas Day jet bomber ‘recruited by al Qaeda in London’
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor7 Jan 2010
The Nigerian man accused of the failed Detroit airline bombing was recruited by al Qaeda in London, Yemen's government claimed today.
The country's deputy prime minister said that Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab had joined the terror group during his three years as a student at University College London.
The claim by Rshad al-Alimi will lead to a renewed focus on the alleged bomber's activities in London and came hours after US officials charged Abdulmuttalab, 23, with six offences over the failed attack on Christmas Day.
The Home Office insisted that no new evidence had emerged about his extremist links in Britain and said that although he had been radicalised while in London his extremist views had only become serious after leaving this country. Senior Whitehall officials also rejected the claims, saying there was nothing to suggest that the student had become actively involved in terrorism while in London.
At a news conference in Yemen today, Mr al-Alimi, who has responsibility for defence and security, insisted that Abdulmuttalab had been recruited by al Qaeda here. “The information provided to us is that Umar Farouk joined al Qaeda in London,” he said, adding that the alleged bomber had later met radical American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen after leaving Britain in 2008.
Al-Awlaki is linked to the gunman who killed 13 people at Fort Hood army base in Texas in November.
It also emerged today that US border officers were preparing to question the Detroit bomber when he landed after realising while he was en route that he had extremist links. His presence on an American “watchlist” was noticed as he flew from Amsterdam to Detroit.
A US administration official rejected the claim, saying that the information would not have resulted in further scrutiny before Abdulmutallab departed because he was in a database containing 500,000 names of people with suspected extremist links but who are not considered threats.
The disclosure will, however, add to the continuing debate about the effectiveness of US security measures after the admission by President Obama that the intelligence agencies had been guilty of a “screw-up”.
In a Detroit court, Abudmutallab was charged with six offences. They include attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and the attempted murder of the plane's 290 passengers. A court document said he allegedly concealed two explosives in his clothing.
