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US: Airplane Terror Attempt Not Part of Larger Plot

   U.S.  Homeland  Security  Secretary says it would be inappropriate for
   her to speculate on whether the suspect had ties to al-Qaida as he has
   claimed

   VOA News 27 December 2009

   U.S.  Homeland  Security  Secretary Janet Napolitano says there is "no
   indication" that Friday's attempted attack on a U.S. airliner was part
   of a larger terrorist plot.
   Napolitano  told U.S. news network CNN Sunday that an investigation is
   ongoing.
   In  a  separate  interview  with ABC News, Napolitano said it would be
   inappropriate for her to speculate on whether the suspect, 23-year-old
   Nigerian  Umar  Farouk  Abdulmutallab,  had ties to al-Qaida as he has
   claimed.
   U.S.  authorities have charged Abdulmutallab with trying to blow up an
   airliner as it approached the midwestern U.S. city of Detroit.
   The  suspect is listed in a U.S. government intelligence database, but
   he  was  not on the "no-fly list" that would ban him from boarding the
   flight, which originated in Amsterdam.
   White  House  Press  Secretary Robert Gibbs told ABC that the incident
   has  prompted  officials  to  review  procedures for placing potential
   terrorists  on  watch  lists,  and  to  reevaluate security systems at
   airports.
   U.S.  authorities  have  begun to take additional security precautions
   for domestic and international flights.
   A preliminary analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation said the
   suspect  was  trying to detonate an explosive called PETN.  Instead of
   exploding,  the  device started a fire.  Abdulmutallab was overpowered
   and detained by other passengers and crew members.
   Officials say Abdulmutallab told them he had received training for the
   attack from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.
   Charges were read against him Saturday in a Michigan hospital where he
   is being treated for burns he suffered during the incident.
   Officials  say  Abdulmutallab  began  his  trip  in  Nigeria.  But the
   Nigerian  government  says  the  suspect  had  been living outside the
   country for some time.
   Nigeria's  information  minister, Dora Akunyili, told reporters Sunday
   that Abdulmutallab snuck into the country Thursday, the day before the
   attack, and left the same day.
   Nigerian  officials  say  they  have launched their own probe into the
   incident, and that they are working with U.S. investigators.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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