INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT.org - For The Record - blog: "'HUNDREDS' MORE AL QAEDA OPERATIVES IN YEMEN PLANNING ATTACKS, FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS" (SNIPPET: ""Of course there are a number of Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen and some of their leaders. We realize this danger," Al-Qirbi said. "They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit. There are maybe hundreds of them - 200, 300."") (December 29, 2009, 3:32)
DEFENSE.gov (AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE): Washington - "OFFICIAL LAUDS YEMENI GOVERNMENT FOR TAKING ON AL-QAIDA" (SNIPPET: "The Yemeni government said the strikes were a success, but there has not been an accounting of casualties in the strikes.") (December 28, 2009)
DANIEL PIPES.org (FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "The System 'Worked Really Very, Very Smoothly' in Detroit?" by Daniel Pipes (SNIPPET: "But they did not place him on the list of about 15,000 individuals who must go through additional screening, much less the list of about 4,000 people on the "no-fly" list, who are not allowed to fly to or in the United States. Nor did they revoke Abdulmutallab's two-year, multi-entry tourist visa. Nor did an air marshal accompany his flight. Despite these multiple failures, Janet Napolitano, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, astonishingly claimed that the system "worked really very, very smoothly" in Detroit. This institutional myopia increases my worries about U.S. law enforcement. Of course, had the system worked, Abdulmutallab would never have entered the airplane, much less set off an explosive device.") (December 28, 2009)
"Summary execution for sabotage Reader comment on item: The System "Worked Really Very, Very Smoothly" in Detroit? Submitted by robert a (United States), Dec 29, 2009 at 05:10: The bomber was an enemy combatant, operating behind the lines, without a uniform, in civilian clothes and part of a army that has declared war on the U.S. How much simpler can it get."
KHALEEJTIMES.com: Cairo - "AL QAEDA IN YEMEN EXPANDS OPERATIONS" (SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on a U.S. airliner bound for Detroit, is led by a Yemeni who was once a close aide to Osama bin Laden. The group formed in January this year, when leader Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi announced a merger between operatives from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Al-Wahishi, who goes by the alias Abu Basir, was among 23 Al Qaeda figures who escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006. He is on Saudi Arabia's most wanted list, which includes many militants currently in Yemen.") (December 29, 2009)
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "AL-QAIDA IN YEMEN CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHRISTMAS DAY AIRLINE TERROR PLOT" by Evan Kohlmann (SNIPPET: "The group acknowledged that the device had failed to properly detonate, but promised that it would "continue on this path until we achieve success."") (December 28, 2009, 08:51 pm)
ABC NEWS.go.com - The Blotter: "TWO AL QAEDA LEADERS BEHIND NORTHWEST FLIGHT 253 TERROR PLOT WERE RELEASED BY U.S. (SNIPPET: "American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials. Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, were sent to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, 2007, according to the Defense Department log of detainees who were released from American custody. Al-Harbi has since changed his name to Muhamad al-Awfi.") (December 28, 2009)
INTERNET HAGANAH.com: "Thank You Mr. Kohlmann..." (SNIPPET: "NEFA Foundation has made available a collection of the 2005-2007 postings at gawaher.com by Farouk1986, generally believed to be Nigerian ball bomber Abdulmutallab." SNIPPET: "I find this one intriguing:") (December 30, 2009)
JIHAD WATCH.org: "HOUSTON MUSLIM GROUP HAWKED AL-QAEDA IMAM AL-AWLAKI'S WRITINGS EVEN AFTER FORT HOOD JIHAD MASSACRE" (SNIPPET: "This is the group that held a conference attended by the Flight 253 jihadist.") (December 31, 2009)
INTERNET HAGANAH.com - SNIPPET: "The image was found on the al-Qimmah forum associated with Somali al-Qaida franchise al-Shabaab. If they achieve nothing else, al-Qaida has given Freudian theories of psychosexual development a new lease on life..." (December 30, 2009)
ABC NEWS.go.com - The Blotter - Exclusive: "PHOTOS OF THE NORTHWEST AIRLINES BOMB Accused Bomber Abdulmutallab's Underwear, Explosive Packet and Detonator" (SNIPPET: "It is a six-inch long packet of the high explosive chemical called PETN, less than a half cup in volume, weighing about 80 grams. A government test with 50 grams of PETN blew a hole in the side of an airliner. That was the amount in the bomb carried by the so-called shoe bomber Richard Reid over Christmas 2001. The underpants bomb would have been one and a half times as powerful.") (December 28, 2009)
stepping back in time...INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "FUN WITH BINARY EXPLOSIVES" (SNIPPET: "Binary explosives are bad, bad stuff. The jihadis have not yet learned how to make the stuff, but they have enough chemical engineers in their ranks that it should only be matter of time.") (January 14, 2007)
Video (CNN): "Intended Victims of Northwest Flight 253 Apprehended Islamic Terrorist" (Note: THANK YOU PASSENGER JASPER SCHURINGA for your quick action. -Cindy) (December 26, 2009)
MLIVE.com: "SECOND PERSON WAS DETAINED BY U.S. CUSTOMS AFTER ALLEGED ATTACK ON FLIGHT 253" (SNIPPET: "Update: In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, Smith said MLive.com's story was accurate. He clarified that the man taken into custody came to Detroit aboard a separate flight and was detained for issues unrelated to the attack on Flight 253. Bill Carter, a spokesman with the FBI in Washington, D.C., said in an interview Tuesday that Abdulmutallab was the only person arrested or charged in relation to Friday’s foiled attack.") (December 29, 2009, 6:46 pm)
AF.REUTERS.com: Amsterdam - "DUTCH PROBE CLAIMS OF NIGERIAN BOMBER ACCOMPLICE" (SNIPPET: "A U.S. couple on the flight, Kurt and Lori Haskell, told Reuters and other news agencies that they saw a tall, well-dressed man aged about 50 with the suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Friday morning at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.") (December 28, 2009, 7:37 am GMT)
JIHAD WATCH.org (MLIVE.com, December 26, 2009): "WHO WAS THAT SHARPLY DRESSED MAN" (SNIPPET: "Haskell said he and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they saw Mutallab approach the gate with an unidentified man. Kurt and Lori Haskell are attorneys with Haskell Law Firm in Taylor. Their expertise includes bankruptcy, family law and estate planning. While Mutallab was poorly dressed,his friend was dressed in an expensive suit, Haskell said. He says the suited man asked ticket agents whether Mutallab could board without a passport. "The guy said, 'He's from Sudan and we do this all the time.'" Mutallab is Nigerian.") (December 27, 2009)
JIHAD WATCH.org (ABC NEWS): "SUSPECT IN ATTEMPTED BOMBING OF DETROIT FLIGHT HAD VISA TO ATTEND 'RELIGIOUS CEREMONY'" (SNIPPET: "The suspect was identified as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who according to federal documents is an engineering student at University College of London.") (December 25, 2009)
THE JAWA REPORT - blog: "FLIGHT 253 BOMBER CLAIMS AL-QAEDA IN YEMEN LINKS (Updated - Video Image of Abdulmutallab added)" (SNIPPET: "I received a copy of this video the other day. The 23rd to be exact. It was the subject of some chatter on a the boards talking about "Was it really safe to fly". No kidding.") (December 26, 2009, 07:27 am)
FOX NEWS.com: "AIRLINE TERROR MISSION BLESSED BY RADICAL IMAM" (SNIPPET: "The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner had his suicide mission personally blessed in Yemen by Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, a U.S. intelligence source has told The Washington Times. The intelligence official, who is familiar with the FBI's interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, said the bombing suspect has boasted of his jihad training to the FBI and has said it included final exhortations by al-Awlaki.") (December 30, 2009)
DAWN.com: "BRITISH EMBASSY IN YEMEN TARGETED BY AL-QAEDA" (SNIPPET: "Sanaa: The British embassy in Sanaa was the target of an al-Qaeda suicide plot foiled by Yemeni authorities last week, a defence ministry-linked website said on Thursday.") (December 24, 2009)
WASHINGTON POST.com: "SIX YEMENI DETAINEES AT GUANTANAMO BAY TO BE REPATRIATED" (SNIPPET: "The Obama administration is planning to repatriate six Yemenis held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a transfer that could be a prelude to the release of dozens more detainees to Yemen, according to sources with independent knowledge of the matter.") (December 18, 2009, 5:04 am)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6973954.ece
From The Sunday Times
January 3, 2010
“MI5 knew of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s UK extremist links”
David Leppard
SNIPPET: “The security services knew three years ago that the Detroit bomber had “multiple communications” with Islamic extremists in Britain, it emerged this weekend.
Counterterrorism officials said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was “reaching out” to extremists whom MI5 had under surveillance while he was studying at University College London.
Officials said the 23-year-old Nigerian was “starting out on a journey” in Britain that culminated in his attempt to bring down flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day.”
SNIPPET: “British officials believe Abdulmutallab was recruited to undertake the Detroit plot after he left Britain, most probably while he was in Yemen last summer. Up to a dozen young British Muslims are thought to be engaged in terrorist training there, according to officials.”
SNIPPET: “While in Britain, Abdulmutallab attended a mosque in Goodge Street, central London, which is run by the Muslim World League, a Saudi-based organisation. The league promulgates a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, but has repeatedly condemned terrorism.
One of the radical preachers believed to have inspired Abdulmutallab is the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is based in Yemen and is believed to have inspired several terrorist cells in Britain and the United States.”