Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — U.S. border agents spotted possible extremist links of the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner and had singled him out to be questioned when the plane landed, an administration official said.

In a routine check of passengers scheduled to arrive in the country, Customs and Border Protection officers discovered Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was in a federal database of people who may have ties to terrorists and decided to interview him before allowing him admission to the U.S., the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.  Read more... (778 words, 1 image, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)

Janet Napolitano says the system worked. No, we were brave and lucky.

A U.S. government that has barred the phrase “war on terror” has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt. Can we all now drop the pretense that we stopped fighting a war once Dick Cheney and George W. Bush left the White House?  Read more... (866 words, 1 image, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)

Janet Napolitano, the US Homeland Security Chief, on Monday admitted that America‘s aviation security system “did not work” in the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack, reversing her claim over the weekend that “the system worked”.

Her embarrassing U-turn underlined the government’s tepid and confused response to the near-catastrophic incident on board Northwest airlines Flight 253 and came as President Barack Obama prepared to end a three-day silence during his holiday in Hawaii.  Read more... (487 words, 1 image, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

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.  Read more... (634 words, 1 image, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

There has been a security scare on board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit – two days after an alleged attack failed on board the same flight.

The pilot of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 requested emergency help when a passenger was described as disruptive as the plane landed on Sunday.

However hours later the FBI said it was a “non-serious incident”.

It came a day after a Nigerian man was charged with attempting to destroy a plane on a flight on 25 December.  Read more... (441 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

In the wake of the terrorism attempt Friday on a Northwest Airlines flight, federal officials on Saturday imposed new restrictions on travelers that could lengthen lines at airports and limit the ability of international passengers to move about an airplane.

The government was vague about the steps it was taking, saying that it wanted the security experience to be “unpredictable” and that passengers would not find the same measures at every airport — a prospect that may upset airlines and travelers alike.  Read more... (817 words, 1 image, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)

WASHINGTON — When a prominent Nigerian banker and former government official phoned the American Embassy in Abuja in October with a warning that his son had developed radical views, had disappeared and might have traveled to Yemen, embassy officials did not revoke the young man’s visa to enter the United States, which was good until June 2010.

Instead, officials said Sunday, they marked the file of the son, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, for a full investigation should he ever reapply for a visa. And when they passed the information on to Washington, Mr. Abdulmutallab’s name was added to 550,000 others with some alleged terrorist connections — but not to the no-fly list. That meant no flags were raised when he used cash to buy a ticket to the United States and boarded a plane, checking no bags.  Read more... (1313 words, 1 image, estimated 5:15 mins reading time)

Officials investigate British link to Nigerian’s plan to destroy US airliner

Investigators on both sides of the Atlantic were last night urgently investigating the background of the would-be plane bomber, as international attention turned to al-Qaida’s stronghold in Yemen.

Scotland Yard and MI5 want to establish how Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalised and by whom, and whether he had accomplices in the UK or the Arabian peninsula. He has told US officials that he met al-Qaida operatives in Yemen who gave him the device which almost brought down Northwest Airlines flight 253 to Detroit and taught him how to use it.  Read more... (1177 words, 1 image, estimated 4:42 mins reading time)

(CNN) — The alleged terror incident aboard a passenger flight from Amsterdam to Detroit has raised questions as to how a Nigerian man carried explosives through stringent security measures.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been charged with attempting to destroy a passenger plane after he detonated a device on board a jet on Friday.

Authorities in the United States are investigating whether Abdulmutallab had any connections with terrorist organizations or was acting alone.

Airports intensify security after plane attack

With Dutch officials scrutinizing security procedures at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport that allowed the 23-year-old man to smuggle the explosives on the aircraft — here are some of the key questions still hanging over the incident.  Read more... (469 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)