Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is seen in a mug shot released by the U.S. Marshals Service on December 28, 2009. Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate a bomb attached to his body on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25. He was overpowered by passengers and crew before setting off the explosive device. UPI/U.S. Marshals |
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. authorities were aware of an accused terrorist's extremist links while the man was en route to Detroit Christmas Day, law enforcement officials said.
Citing senior law enforcement sources, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday border security officials became aware before Northwest Airlines Flight 253 arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab "may have been involved with extremist elements in Yemen." A senior official who requested anonymity told the newspaper officials planned to question Abdulmutallab, 23, when the plane landed.
"The people in Detroit were prepared to look at him in secondary inspection," the official said.
It is not clear the intelligence was sufficient to cause Netherlands officials to prevent Abdulmutallab from boarding the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight, the newspaper said. The intelligence that reached U.S. border security officials about Abdulmutallab's extremist ties showed up in a database after the plane took off from Amsterdam, the official said.
A federal grand jury in Detroit Wednesday indicted Abdulmutallab on six counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder.
Prosecutors, who have yet to file terrorism-related charges, say Abdulmutallab hid explosives in his underwear and tried to ignite them as Flight 253 was preparing to land in Detroit.
Authorities said Abdulmutallab's alleged bombing attempt was foiled when passengers and flight crew members restrained him and extinguished a small fire he had started.
"The charges that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab faces could imprison him for life," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "This investigation is fast-paced, global and ongoing, and it has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads."
The Detroit Free Press said a detention hearing for Abdulmutallab had been set for Friday, but it quoted officials as saying it's not known when he will be arraigned on the indictment or whether the detention hearing date would now change.
He is being held at a federal prison in Milan, Mich.
