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Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab
Status	Awaiting indictment, incarcerated in U.S. federal prison, Milan Michigan
Other names	Omar Farooq al-Nigeri; Umar AbdulMutallab; possibly Farouk1986
Occupation(s)	Engineering, MBA, and Arabic language student
Parent	Alhaji Umaru Mutallab (father)
Criminal charge	Bringing a destructive device onto, and attempting to destroy, a U.S. civil aircraft

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab (also referred to as Umar Abdulmutallab and Omar Farooq al-Nigeri; born December 22, 1986, in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian citizen who attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear during a Christmas Day, December 25, 2009, terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan.

He was charged on December 26, 2009 with attempting to blow up a U.S. passenger plane, and is due to face trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, in Milan, Michigan.

Background

Abdulmutallab is the youngest of 16 children of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, one of the richest men in Africa and the prominent former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria and former Nigerian Federal Commissioner for Economic Development. His mother, who is from Yemen, is the second of his father's two wives. The family comes from Funtua in Katsina State. Abdulmutallab was raised initially in Kaduna, in Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north. Abdulmutallab is also known as the 'lap bomber.'(Lap Bomber)

In high school at the British International School in Lomé, the capital of Togo; the private school is popular among wealthy Nigerians. Abdulmutallab was known as a devout Muslim and for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates. He was described as a "dream student" by his history teacher Michael Rimmer. Another teacher, John McGuinness, described Mutallab as "incredibly polite and very hard-working" during this time, while also noting his devotion to the Muslim faith; he was nicknamed "Alfa," which is a term for Muslim clerics.

The Telegraph interviewed Mike Rimmer, his high school teacher, who reported that he had defended the Taliban during classroom discussions of their social policies, and their destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Rimmer described Mutallab's family as "wonderful", and said he had been fond of Mutallab. He also said he thought Mutallab had been playing "devil's advocate" during the classroom discussions, and that he had really understood Mutallab, but concluded he had not understood him after all.

He was a soccer fan and supported Arsenal Football Club. Conversely, British media described Mutallab as a Liverpool Football Club supporter.

He visited the U.S. for the first time in 2004.

CNN reported that in regards to the internet username "Farouk1986," "the many detailed biographical points made by the poster match what has been reported about Mutallab's life." On Monday December 28, 2009, a U.S. government official said the government is reviewing the online postings, and that it has not yet independently confirmed the authenticity of the posts. CNN stated that, by 2005, "Farouk1986"'s postings "had a serious view of his religion." Tracey D. Samuelson of the Christian Science Monitor said that the posts by the user "suggest a student preoccupied by university admissions and English soccer clubs, but who was also apparently lonely and conflicted." The Washington Post reviewed 300 online postings by "Farouk1986"; Philip Rucker and Julie Tate of the Washington Post said "Taken together, the writings demonstrate an acute awareness of Western customs and a worldliness befitting Mutallab's privileged upbringing as a wealthy Nigerian banker's son." The user name posted on Facebook and on Islamic Forum (gawaher.com).

Farouk1986's discussed loneliness and marriage in his postings between 2005 and 2007, writing:

"As i get lonely, the natural sexual drive awakens and i struggle to control it, sometimes leading to minor sinful activities like not lowering the gaze . And this problem makes me want to get married to avoid getting aroused". And "The hair of a woman can easily arouse a man. The Prophet advised young men to fast if they can't get married but it has not been helping me much and I seriously don't want to wait for years before I get married. But i am only 18 . . . It would be difficult for me to get married due to social norms of getting to the late 20's when one has a degree, a job, a house, etc before getting married. So usually my fatasies are about islamic stuff. The bad part of it is sometimes the fantasies are a bit worldly rather than concentrating in the hereafter."

In a posting, on February 20, 2005, he wrote:

"Alright, i wont go into too much details about me fantasy, but basically they are jihad fantisies . I imagine how the great jihad will take place, how the muslims will win insha Allah and rule the whole world, and establish the greatest empire once again!!!"

He began his studies at University College London in September 2005, where he studied Engineering and Business Finance, and earned a degree in mechanical engineering in June 2008. He was president of the school's Islamic Society in 2006 and 2007, during which time, along with political discussions, activities included martial arts training and paintballing; at least one of the Society's paintballing trips involved a preacher who reportedly said: “Dying while fighting jihad is one of the surest ways to paradise.” other sources described the club as a vehicle for peaceful protest against the actions of the United States and the United Kingdom in the War on Terrorism. He is the fourth president of a London student Islamic society to face terrorist charges in three years. He devoted more time while at school to the group's activities than to his studies, graduating with a 2.2 average - roughly a C - according to a friend. He organized a conference in January 2007 under the banner “War on Terror Week”, and advertised speakers including political figures, human rights lawyers, speakers from Cageprisoners, and former Guantánamo Bay detainees. One lecture, Jihad v Terrorism, was billed as “a lecture on the Islamic position with respect to jihad”. During those years he “crossed the radar screen” of MI5, the UK's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, for radical links and “multiple communications” with Islamic extremists.

On June 12, 2008, Abdulmutallab applied for and received from the U.S. consulate in London a U.S. multiple-entry visa, valid to June 12, 2010, with which he visited Houston, Texas, from August 1–17, 2008.

In May 2009 Abdulmutallab tried to return to Britain, ostensibly for a six-month "life coaching" program at what the British authorities concluded was a fictitious school; accordingly, his visa application was denied by the United Kingdom Border Agency. His name was placed on a UK Home Office security watch list, which BBC News said meant he could not come into the UK, though he could pass through the country in transit and was not permanently banned; the UK did not share the information with other countries.

Abdulmutallab's father agreed in July 2009 to his request to return to the San'a Institute for the Arabic Language in Yemen to study Arabic from August to September 2009. He arrived in the country in August.

Abdulmutallab was the only African student in the school of 70 students. A fellow student at the Institute said Abdulmutallab would start his day by going to the mosque for dawn prayers, and then would spend hours in his room reading the Quran. Ahmed Mohammed, one of his teachers, said Abdulmutallab spent the last 10 days of Ramadan sequestered in a mosque. He apparently left the Institute after a month while remaining in-country.

His family became concerned in August 2009 when he called them to say he had dropped the course, but was remaining there. By September he routinely skipped his classes at the Institute and attended lectures at Imam University, notorious for suspected links to terrorism. “He told me his greatest wish was for sharia and Islam to be the rule of law across the world,” said one of his classmates at the Institute.

The Institute obtained an exit visa for him, and on September 21 arranged for a car that took him to the airport; but the school's director said: "After that, we never saw him again, and apparently he did not leave Yemen". In October, Abdulmutallab sent his father a text message saying that he was no longer interested pursuing an MBA in Dubai, and wanted instead to study sharia and Arabic in a seven-year course in Yemen. His father threatened to cut off his funding, whereupon Abdulmutallab said he was “already getting everything for free”. He texted his father: "I've found a new religion, the real Islam". And ultimately, "You should just forget about me, I'm never coming back", “Please forgive me. I will no longer be in touch with you”, and "Forgive me for any wrongdoing, I am no longer your child". The family last had contact with Abdulmutallab in October 2009.

Yemeni officials said that he was in Yemen from early August 2009, overstayed his student visa (which was valid through September 21), and left Yemen on December 7 (flying to Ethiopia, and then a few days later to Ghana).

His father made a report to two CIA officers at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, on November 19 regarding his son's "extreme religious views", and told the embassy that Abdulmutallab might be in Yemen. Acting on the report, the suspect's name was added in November 2009 to the US's 550,000-name Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a database of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. It was not added, however, to the FBI's 400,000-name Terrorist Screening Database, the terror watch list that feeds both the 14,000-name Secondary Screening Selectee list and the US's 4,000-name No Fly List. Nor was his U.S. visa revoked. Abdulmutallab's name had come to the attention of intelligence officials many months before that, but no "derogatory information" was recorded about him. A Congressional official said that Abdulmutallab's name appeared in US reports reflecting that he had connections to both al-Qaeda and Yemen.

Two days after the attack, Abdulmutallab was released from the hospital in which he had been treated for burns sustained during the attempted bombing. He is in Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, a federal prison in Milan, Michigan.

Reported contact with Islamic extremists

As reported in the New York Times on December 26, 2009, "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."

Mutallab had been a devout Muslim throughout his youth, but it is unclear when he became "radicalized." During his time in London, he reportedly visited the London Muslim Centre three times; the Centre is expected to be a focus of future investigations. Since his graduation from the University College London, Mutallab continued his studies in Dubai and Yemen. In May 2009, British officials rejected his application for a renewed student visa. He made a telephone call to his father in October 2009, which prompted his father to contact Nigerian security officials and the U.S. Embassy:

"His father, 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. But embassy officials did not revoke the young man’s visa to enter the United States, which was good until June 2010 .... And when they passed the information on to Washington, Mutallab’s name was added to 550,000 others with some alleged terrorist connections — but not to the no-fly list."

In April 2009, Mutallab had applied to attend an Islamic seminar in Houston, Texas. He obtained a multiple-entry visa in the US Consulate in June 2008 that would be valid until June 2010. He attended the Islamic seminar from August 1-17 at AlMaghrib Institute. Mutallab returned to Yemen, purportedly to study Arabic again, he appeared to have undergone a personality change: more religious and "a loner", and showing himself wearing traditional Islamic clothing. He returned to Nigeria in December 2009.

A number of sources reported ties and communications between Abdulmutallab and Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim lecturer and spiritual leader who has been accused of being a senior al-Qaeda talent recruiter and motivator linked to various terrorists. Al-Awlaki, previously an imam in the U.S. who more recently has lived in Yemen, also has links to three of the 9/11 hijackers, the 2005 London subway bombers, a 2006 Toronto terror cell, a 2007 plot to attack Fort Dix, and the 2009 suspected Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan.

Representative Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said that credible sources told him Abdulmutallab "most likely" has ties with al-Awlaki. The Sunday Times established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen while he was studying Arabic. During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.

Fox News reported that evidence collected during searches of "flats or apartments of interest" connected to Abdulmutallab in London showed that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as web traffic showed he followed Awlaki's blog and website. CBS News and The Daily Telegraph reported that Abdulmutallab was at a talk by al-Awlaki at the East London Mosque (which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference). The two are also "thought to have met" in London, according to The Daily Mail.

CBS News said that the two were communicating in the months before the bombing attempt, and sources say that at a minimum al-Awlaki was providing spiritual support. The Washington Post reported that according to federal sources, over the year prior to the attack, Abdulmutallab intensified electronic communications with al-Awlaki. The paper also reported that one government source described intercepted "voice-to-voice communication" between the two during the fall of 2009, saying that al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating 's transportation or trip through Yemen."

The Times reported that Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his trainers when he underwent al-Qaeda training in remote camps in Yemen, and that there were "informed reports" that Abdulmutallab met al-Awlaki during his final weeks of training and indoctrination prior to the attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:

"Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year, and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation."

Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe he traveled in October to Shabwa, where he met with suspected al-Qaida members in a house built by al-Awlaki and used by al-Awlaki to hold theological sessions. "If he went to Shabwa, for sure he would have met Anwar al-Awlaki," al-Alimi said.

Attack

From Nigeria, Mutallab travelled to Amsterdam, where he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25, Christmas Day. His ticket had been bought with cash in Ghana on December 16.

Passengers and crew aboard the plane said Mutallab spent about 20 minutes in the bathroom as it approached Detroit and then covered himself with a blanket after returning to his seat, the Justice Department said. They then heard popping noises and smelled a foul odour and some saw Mutallab’s trouser leg and the wall of the plane on fire. When asked by a flight attendant what he had in his pocket, he replied “explosive device.” The device consisted of a six-inch (15-cm) packet of powder and a syringe containing a liquid, which were sewn into the suspect’s underwear, according to media reports.

Passengers reported smelling smoke and saw that something in his lap was on fire. Fellow passenger Jasper Schuringa, a Dutch film director, jumped on Mutallab, and he and other passengers subdued him as flight attendants used fire extinguishers to douse the flames. At this point, Mutallab was taken toward the front of the airplane cabin, and was seen to have lost his pants due to the fire, and had burns on his legs. After being taken into custody, Mutallab told authorities he had been directed by al Qaeda. He said that the device was obtained in Yemen, along with instructions from al-Qaeda on how to use it. Authorities have not yet confirmed his statements. However, the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as revenge for the United States' role in a Yemeni military offensive against al Qaeda in that country.

The attack came near the eighth anniversary of the attempt by Richard Reid to blow up a plane using explosives hidden in his shoe.

Aftermath

New restrictions were imposed on U.S travellers with the government being vague about many of them because "it wanted the security experience to be 'unpredictable'". One day after she said that the system had "worked", Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano acknowledged that the aviation security system had indeed failed. President Barack Obama vowed that the U.S. government would track down all those responsible for the attack and any attack being planned against the U.S. homeland. He also ordered a full review of detection and watch list procedures in the aftermath of the incident. Stating that "totally unacceptable" systemic and human failures had occurred, Obama told reporters that he was insisting on "accountability at every level" but gave no details.

United States Senator Joe Lieberman called for the Obama administration to pre-emptively act on curbing terrorism in Yemen and to halt plans to repatriate Guantanamo detainees to Yemen. Peter Hoekstra, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee called for a halt to the repatriation of Guantanamo detainees from Yemen. Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called for a halt to all current plans with regard to Yemen in light of Abdulmutullab's ties there. Congressional Representative Peter T. King called for a halt to the prisoner releases.

Immediately after the attack, Lateef Adegbite, secretary general of Nigeria's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs condemned the attack and stated "We are embarrassed by this incident and we strongly condemn the alleged action by this young man. We do not think that there is any organised Islamic group in Nigeria that is inclined to such a criminal and violent act. We condemn such an extreme viewpoint and action."

The Wall Street Journal stated on December 27 that Mutallab's suspected ties to jihadists from Yemen potentially complicates President Barack Obama's plans to release detainees held in Guantanamo to Yemen.

Perspective of Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo

Former Radio Nigeria Journalist and host Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, a Canadian based international renowned Journalist and Independent Publicist from Nigeriaappeared on several US and Canadian cable news channels including CNN, FOX News, CTV News Channel and CFRB 1010 News Radio in Toronto offering the Nigerian perspective of the situation. She described the father of the suspect as a hero and a very community caring man who lead Nigeria's oldest bank First Bank of Nigeria. On a special edition of CNN's Larry King Live on December 27th 2009, she spoke about the fact that Nigeria is a good country made up of good people even though Nigeria has been known for some negative things like bad leadership, persecution, drug trafficking, massive internet fraud and even human trafficking, terror suspect Umar Mutallab just made things worse for the country's image as it turns 50 this year.

Omololu-Olunloyo later told CNN's Randi Kaye on CNN's breakfast show American Morning the next day December 28th 2009 that even though she had spoken to a member of the suspect's family on condition of anonymity, the family was quite distraught and were planning to release a statement which they eventually did. She also stated that what the elder Mutallab did by alerting the US Embassy was "unheard of" and that US Homeland Security missed a big clue. Omololu-Olunloyo later told Kaye on the show about the problem of religious extremism, persecution and radical behavior in Nigeria quoting "We have a lot of problems in Nigeria. Many Nigerians accept these problems and some don't want to accept it. We have a problem of extremism and radical behavior in Nigeria, particularly in the north. No one is saying that Muslims are the only ones that are radical, but we have to really face the truth. I mean, this kind of behavior has cost so much in Nigeria. The Miss World pageant they had to move that because of all this fighting and radical behavior"At the end of the interview, Omololu-Olunloyo appealed to United States Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano to "dig deeper" as she felt the system did not work, something Napolitano stated earlier with respect to the system having worked. Napolitano backtracked that statement later in the day by appearing on CNN and several media outlets stating that the system in fact failed. It was later reported by several media organizations

Meanwhile on the afternoon of December 27th 2009, the leading Canadian news cable channel CTV News Channel Canada (formerly CTV NewsNet) spoke to Omololu-Olunloyo in a live phone interview after being told that the drama in the skies actually started in Canadian airspace as the Delta flight 253 allegedly sent a signal for an emergency onboard as it entered Labrador, Newfoundland and headed towards Ontario, the Canadian province that borders Detroit. She stated that after speaking to the same anonymous family source, she learned about the terror suspect's travels from London to Egypt then on to Dubai and Yemen and was never heard from again. Omololu-Olunloyo said she personally did not believe that he was radicalized in the United States. She also mentioned that her sentiments was shared by the Nigerian print media who printed headlines such as "shameful kid" "shame to the country" and several other derogatory headlines.

On America's FOX News Channel on the morning on December 27th 2009, Omololu-Olunloyo was asked by Eric Shawn of FNC show "American News Headquarters" if one would compare the Mutallab family to the Rockefellers? She compared the Mutallab family to the Kennedys, America's renowned political family. She specifically made the comparison based on being affluent, tight knit, community caring and stating that terror suspect Umar Mutallab had now become an outcast after disowning his own family before heading to Yemen and allegedly trying to blow up an airline. Omololu-Olunloyo stated that the terror suspect in the eyes of many Nigerians around the globe had brought shame on his family and the country. She appealed to Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano to exercise patience on the arrival of the CIA in the northern Nigerian province of Katsina who were there to begin investigations and to please avoid tension among the locals. Omololu-Olunloyo also appeared on other FOX news shows including Greta Van Susteren's show on the evening of December 26th 2009.

Omololu-Olunloyo did several more media interviews drawing criticism from a few Nigerian Muslims and praises from mostly Nigerian Christians signifying the still ongoing division between both ethnic groups. Most felt they were informed and damage control was done since no top officials from Nigeria came out on these international cable shows to speak. In one of her interviews, she mentioned a letter she wrote TIME magazine in 1998 warning of international terrorist cells in Africa after the Kenya and Tanzania bombing. The Nigerian Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam was severely damaged by shrapneau in that attack as it was next to the US embassy. This letter was written to TIME in 1998 three years before 9/11.

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External links

• 1986 births
• Living people
• Al-Qaeda members
• Alumni of University College London
• Islamic terrorism
• Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom
• Nigerian Islamists
• People from Lagos (city)
• Perpetrators of religiously motivated violence in the United States