Family warned security agencies two months ago
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Tuesday December 29 2009
The family of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab say they warned security agencies two months ago that they feared he had become radicalised after he disappeared to the al-Qa'ida stronghold of Yemen.
His father, Alhaji Umaru (70), the former chairman of Nigeria's biggest bank, was so concerned by his son's "out of character" behaviour that he contacted US agents two weeks after speaking to Nigerian security officials.
Security officials in Britain and America are coming under pressure to explain how the would-be suicide bomber was able to board a plane despite both countries being alerted separately to his suspicious behaviour.
In a statement, Abdulmutallab's family said: "Prior to this incident, his father, having become concerned about his disappearance and stoppage of communication while schooling abroad, reported the matter to the Nigerian security agencies about two months ago, and to some foreign security agencies about a month and a half ago, then sought their assistance to find and return him home."
His father is now helping agents from the CIA, the FBI and Nigeria's National Intelligence Agency to build a picture of his son's movements. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Gordon Rayner
Irish Independent
