FD Editor Note: As was the plan all along (perhaps from the beginning)…….
From The Post.IE:
An international investigation has been launched into suspected al-Qaeda links to an attack on a plane landing in the US on Christmas Day. Authorities there are liaising with their counterparts in Britain, where the suspected terrorist had been studying.
Questions are already being asked about how he managed to get onto the plane with the device strapped to his leg. He then tried to blow up the Detroit bound transatlantic flight with 278 passengers on board, before being subdued by passengers and flight crew.
White House officials said that US President Barack Obama was treating it as an attempted terrorist attack.
The suspect was identified as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutullab, a Nigerian national who was studying in London. The device did not go off properly, though the suspect sustained third degree burns. The incident took place on Flight 252 from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
‘‘This was not a firecracker, this was for real,” said Peter King, the leading Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.
Obama called for ‘‘all appropriate measures to be taken to increase security’’ after the attack. Additional security measures were being put in place in airports in the US and also other major airports with US connections.
Among the questions being asked are how the man, who had been identified by US authorities as having a terrorist link, managed to board the plane with the explosive and whether this was the start of a new wave of attacks.
The suspect, who was taken into custody in Detroit, said the device was acquired in Yemen, along with instructions on how to use it, according to reports on CNN. The fire from the explosion when he set off the device required the use of fire extinguishers to put it out, according to passengers quoted in news reports.
The incident occurred on the plane’s descent towards Detroit. Passengers were quoted as saying they saw a glow and that the man was then jumped on by other passengers and crew. The suspect told authorities that he used a syringe to mix explosive powder taped to his leg.
The plane, an Airbus 330, was moved to a secure area after it landed, and all baggage was re-screened and passengers interviewed by authorities. There were reports that the suspect may have had links to Anwar al-Awlaki, an iman based in Yemen who is believed to have links to al-Qaeda.
