.Bomb suspect "reached out" to UK militants: report
LONDON (Reuters) - British security services knew three years ago that the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a U.S.-bound plane had "multiple communications" with Islamic extremists in Britain, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, charged with trying to blow up Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam as it approached Detroit on Christmas Day, studied in London between 2005 and 2008.
U.S. President Barack Obama says an al Qaeda affiliate based in Yemen was apparently behind the attack.
The Sunday Times quoted counter-terrorism officials as saying that, during his London stay, Abdulmutallab had been "reaching out" to extremists who were under surveillance by British security service MI5.
None of the information was passed to U.S. officials, which will prompt questions about intelligence failures before the attack, the newspaper said in an article posted on its website.
It said British officials had now passed a file to their U.S. counterparts on Abdulmutallab's activities while he was a student at University College London (UCL).
The file showed his repeated contacts with MI5 targets who were subject to phone taps, e-mail intercepts and other forms of surveillance, the report said.
Obama has blamed "human and systemic failures" for allowing the botched attack, saying information available to intelligence experts should have been pieced together.
British intelligence officials had defended their decision not to flag Abdulmutallab as a possible terrorism risk, saying he was one of many youths who mixed with extremists but who were not themselves thought to be involved in plotting or supporting terrorism, the Sunday Times said.
It quoted a senior British government official as saying that the intelligence agency had conducted a quick assessment of Abdulmutallab while he was living in London and concluded he was not a threat to national security.
British officials believe Abdulmutallab was recruited to undertake the Detroit plot after he left Britain, most probably while he was in Yemen last summer, the report said.
A Home Office (interior ministry) spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the report.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday that Britain was "increasingly clear that he (Abdulmutallab) linked up with al Qaeda in Yemen after leaving London."
Britain refused Abdulmutallab a further student visa in May 2009 and put him on an immigration watch list after he applied to attend a bogus college.
UCL has set up an independent review of Abdulmutallab's time at the university, during which he became president of the student Islamic Society.
Reuters
We should just bomb the Brits and cut our losses. They Suck.
U.S. President Barack Obama says an al Qaeda affiliate based in Yemen was apparently behind the attack.
The Sunday Times quoted counter-terrorism officials as saying that, during his London stay, Abdulmutallab had been "reaching out" to extremists who were under surveillance by British security service MI5.
None of the information was passed to U.S. officials, which will prompt questions about intelligence failures before the attack, the newspaper said in an article posted on its website.
It said British officials had now passed a file to their U.S. counterparts on Abdulmutallab's activities while he was a student at University College London (UCL).
The file showed his repeated contacts with MI5 targets who were subject to phone taps, e-mail intercepts and other forms of surveillance, the report said.
Obama has blamed "human and systemic failures" for allowing the botched attack, saying information available to intelligence experts should have been pieced together.
British intelligence officials had defended their decision not to flag Abdulmutallab as a possible terrorism risk, saying he was one of many youths who mixed with extremists but who were not themselves thought to be involved in plotting or supporting terrorism, the Sunday Times said.
It quoted a senior British government official as saying that the intelligence agency had conducted a quick assessment of Abdulmutallab while he was living in London and concluded he was not a threat to national security.
British officials believe Abdulmutallab was recruited to undertake the Detroit plot after he left Britain, most probably while he was in Yemen last summer, the report said.
A Home Office (interior ministry) spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the report.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday that Britain was "increasingly clear that he (Abdulmutallab) linked up with al Qaeda in Yemen after leaving London."
Britain refused Abdulmutallab a further student visa in May 2009 and put him on an immigration watch list after he applied to attend a bogus college.
UCL has set up an independent review of Abdulmutallab's time at the university, during which he became president of the student Islamic Society.
Reuters
We should just bomb the Brits and cut our losses. They Suck.
posted by madtom at 2:06 AM
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