Intel indicates Detroit a random choice

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The choice of a Detroit-bound airplane as the target for a Christmas holiday terror attack apparently was random, a U.S. House panel determined.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said after a closed-door briefing with administration officials Wednesday that intelligence didn't point to a known "Detroit connection," the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said she was told in a separate briefing for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that the Motor City "was not specifically targeted."

Congressional hearings into the incident are scheduled for next week.

Since the Christmas Day incident, officials have been trying to determine why accused Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, flew to Detroit from Amsterdam, Netherlands, after flying to Amsterdam from Lagos, Nigeria. Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 on its decent to Detroit Metro Airport. Other passengers subdued him and the plane landed safely.

Thompson and other lawmakers said they want to ensure such an incident doesn't happen again, the Free Press said. While President Barack Obama tried to assure that stronger steps are being taken to protect the country against another breach, Thompson said he wants to see what the ongoing reviews say, as well as proposals to beef up airport security domestically and internationally.