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)

The family of a former London student accused of trying to blow up a transatlantic jet say they alerted security agencies two months ago after losing contact with him.

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab’s parents describe his disappearance as “completely out of character” and a “very recent development”.

The Nigerian’s family said in a statement they had lost contact with the 23-year-old while he was studying abroad.

“His father, having become concerned about his disappearance and stoppage of communication while schooling abroad, reported the matter to Nigerian security agencies about two months ago and to some foreign security agencies about a month and a half ago,” the statement said.  Read more... (431 words, 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities on Saturday charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, and officials said the suspect told them he had obtained explosive chemicals and a syringe that were sewn into his underwear from a bomb expert in Yemen associated with Al Qaeda. The authorities have not independently corroborated the Yemen connection claimed by the man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was burned in his failed attempt to bring down the airliner and is in a hospital in Michigan. But a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said on Saturday that the suspect’s account was “plausible,” and that he saw “no reason to discount it.”  Read more... (1186 words, 1 image, estimated 4:45 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)