A FORMER London student has been charged with attempting to blow up a transatlantic aircraft carrying 278 passengers on Christmas Day.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, was charged in hospital last night with attempting to destroy the aircraft during its final approach to Detroit airport, the US justice department said.
American prosecutors claim that Abdulmutallab, who finished an engineering course at University College London last year, had a device attached to his body when he boarded the aircraft in Amsterdam on Christmas Eve. He passed through the airport in transit after flying from Lagos.
Extra security measures have been brought in for passengers flying from British airports to the US. Travellers can carry only one piece of hand luggage (including duty-free items), face a pat-down body search before boarding and must remain in their seats for the final hour before arrival in the US.
Abdulmutallab, the son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, is alleged to have set off the device as the flight approached Detroit airport. The device caused a fire that burned Abdulmutallab’s legs.
A preliminary FBI investigation found that the device contained an explosive known as PETN, or pentaerythritol. Agents recovered what appeared to be the remnants of a syringe found near Abdulmutallab’s seat, which is thought to have been part of the device.
“Had this alleged plot to destroy an aircraft been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured,” said US attorney general Eric Holder.
“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.”
Abdulmutallab had been living in an apartment building in Mansfield Road, close to Oxford Street in central London, while studying mechanical engineering between 2005 and last year. The building was cordoned off by police today.
Abdulmutallab was barred from returning to Britain when he tried to obtain another student visa, this time using a bogus college, UK government sources said. But he was not on the US no-fly list.
According to an affidavit, interviews with the passengers and crew of Northwest Airlines flight 253 revealed that before the incident, Abdulmutallab went to the aircraft’s bathroom for approximately 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he said he had an upset stomach and pulled a blanket over himself.
Passengers then heard what were described as popping noises similar to the sound of firecrackers. Some reported seeing Abdulmutallab’s trouser leg and the inner wall of the aircraft on fire. He was overpowered by passengers and crew who used blankets and fire extinguishers to put out the flames.Citing US officials, the Wall Street Journal said the man told investigators al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen had given him the device and told him how to detonate it. The US government created a record on Abdulmutallab last month in the intelligence community’s central repository of information, but there was not enough negative data to place him on a no-fly list, a US official said.
The Dutch counter-terrorism agency, NCTb, said Abdulmutallab had boarded a KLM flight from Lagos to Amsterdam, and passed through a security checkpoint at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
– (Guardian service)