The man at the centre of the failed Detroit airliner bomb plot was probably not acting alone, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said today.

Mr Johnson also revealed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been banned from entering Britain and had been placed on a “watch list” earlier this year.

He said police and security services were investigating whether the 23-year-old had been radicalised while studying at University College London (UCL) between 2005 and 2008.

According to US network ABC News, Abdulmutallab has told FBI agents there were more “just like him” in Yemen who would carry out attacks in the near future.

A court hearing scheduled for today to decide whether US officials could take a DNA sample from the suspect was delayed until January 8.

Abdulmutallab, who is being held at a prison in Milan, Michigan, was charged in hospital in the United States with attempting to destroy Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, Mr Johnson said Abdulmutallab had been refused a new visa and monitored since last May after applying for a bogus course.

“If you are on our watch list then you do not come into this country,” Mr Johnson said. “You can come through this country if you are in transit to another country, but you cannot come into this country.”

The issues being investigated by police and security services in this country included “what happened when he was in this country, was he radicalised in this country, was there any association with whoever may have been behind this plot”, according to Mr Johnson.

“We don’t know yet whether it was a single-handed plot or (there were) other people behind it – I suspect it’s the latter rather than the former,” he added. American officials said Abdulmutallab was on one of their “long” watch lists but was not banned from travelling.

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded that the aviation security system had failed.

“Our system did not work in this instance,” she said on NBC television’s Today show. “No-one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way.”

Security at airports on both sides of the Atlantic has been heightened in the wake of the incident on Christmas Day, with flight delays continuing today.

Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to ignite a device as the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam – carrying nearly 280 passengers – entered its final descent to Detroit.

Mr Johnson said answers were needed about how Abdulmutallab managed to penetrate security at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where he transferred after flying in on a KLM flight from his native Nigeria.

According to US law enforcement officials, the suspect has claimed he received training and instructions from al Qaida operatives in Yemen.

Abdulmutallab’s wealthy family said they believe he was radicalised while attending the British International School in Lome, the capital of Togo.

After he broke off contact, they approached foreign security agencies expressing concern about his state of mind and requesting “assistance to find and return him home”.

British police and MI5 have been diverting resources to probe the importance of his London links.

Throughout the weekend, search teams combed the imposing mansion block in Mansfield Road, close to Oxford Street, where Abdulmutallab lived in the capital.

Michael Rimmer, a Briton who taught the suspect history at UCL, said his impression of Abdulmutallab was positive, claiming the youngster chose to give £50 to an orphanage rather than spend it on souvenirs in London.

Mr Rimmer said: “At one stage, his nickname was ‘The Pope’. In one way it’s totally unsuitable because he’s Muslim, but he did have this saintly aura.”

US President Barack Obama has ordered a fresh review of screening processes to discover whether the authorities should have taken more heed of warnings about the threat the suspect posed.

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  5. Detroit terror attack: suspect president of university Islamic society

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