Police search for Detroit bomb accomplice

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...section=justin

Police search for Detroit bomb accomplice

Posted 47 minutes ago
Dutch police say they are investigating the possibility an accomplice may have helped the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.
Two witnesses say they saw a tall, middle-aged man with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab at Amsterdam's international airport before he boarded the plane.
Abdulmutallab is in a Detroit jail after he attempted to detonate an explosive during the flight.
The 23-year-old, who was on a US intelligence watchlist, allegedly tried to set off an explosive device sewn to his underwear as the airliner came in to land but was stopped by passengers and crew.
He was treated in hospital for burns he received while trying to detonate the explosive and has since been moved to prison.
The US President Barack Obama has ordered full reviews of America's airport security and the country's terrorism watch lists.
Abdulmutallab's family say they lost contact with him months ago, and reported his disappearance to the authorities.
The son of a respected former banker, Abdulmutallab is from a privileged background in Africa's most populous country, most of whose estimated 140 million people live on less than $3 a day.
A member of the family read a statement over the phone to the BBC.
It describes how the family was woken in the early hours of Boxing Day to hear that their son had been involved in an attempt to blow up an airliner.

Out of character

They tell how the father had become so concerned about his son's disappearance and his refusal to speak to his family that he'd approached Nigerian and foreign security services.
"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.
He had asked them to try to trace his son and return him to them. The family were still hoping this would happen at Christmas time.
They have described his recent behaviour as completely out of character.
The family says Abdul Mutallab had never acted in a way that caused them concern until he stopped communicating with them.
"The disappearance and cessation of communication... are completely out of character and a very recent development," the statement said.
The statement ends saying the family is thankful to almighty God no lives were lost.
US investigators are trying to confirm claims that he has connections to Al Qaeda.
Abdulmutallab started his journey to Detroit in Nigeria's commercial hub of Lagos, where he boarded a KLM flight to Amsterdam before going through transit at Schiphol airport.
He was educated at the British School in Lome, Togo - a boarding school mostly serving expatriates and students from around West Africa - before studying engineering at University College London (UCL), where he was enrolled until June 2008.
A family friend said Abdulmutallab had subsequently made two trips to Yemen for short Arabic and Islamic courses.
Residents in his family's home town say they believe he was radicalised while studying abroad.
- BBC/Reuters