Al-Qaeda groomed Nigerian terrorist in London

Security sources have confirmed that Christmas Day airline bomb plot suspect, Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda in London.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was also an ex-president of the Islamic Society at University College London.

The Christmas Day airline bomb plot suspect organised a conference under the banner "War on Terror Week" as he immersed himself in radical politics while a student in London, The Times has learnt.

One lecture, Jihad v Terrorism, was billed as "a lecture on the Islamic position with respect to jihad".

Security sources are concerned that the picture emerging of his undergraduate years suggests that he was recruited by al-Qaeda in London. Security sources said that Islamist radicalisation was rife on university campuses, especially in London, and that college authorities had "a patchy record in facing up to the problem". Previous anti-terrorist inquiries have uncovered evidence of extremists using political meetings and religious study circles to identify potential recruits.

It emerged last night that Mr Abdulmutallab featured on the periphery of one counterterrorism intelligence operation in Britain. US intelligence authorities are also looking at conversations between him and at least one al-Qaeda member.

The event he organised took place in January 2007 and included talks on Guantánamo Bay, the alleged torture of prisoners and the War on Terror.

He is the fourth president of a London student Islamic society to face terrorist charges in three years. One is facing a retrial on charges that he was involved in the 2006 liquid bomb plot to blow up airliners. Two others have been convicted of terrorist offences since 2007.

Mr Abdulmutallab left UCL last year. The Times has learnt that his attempt to renew his student visa in May this year was based on an application to study "life coaching" at a non-existent college. That visa refusal may have saved Britain from an attack. His terrorist training took a new turn in August when he moved to Yemen, ostensibly to study Arabic, and was schooled by al-Qaeda there.

Yesterday, the US put on display the underwear he wore on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. Explosives had been sewn into them. As the plane approached Detroit the material ignited, shooting 6ft flames up the cabin wall. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has claimed the attack, said that the device failed because of a "faulty detonator".

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni Foreign Minister, appealed for help to train and equip counter-terrorist forces. He said: "Of course there are a number of al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and some of their leaders. They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit. There are maybe hundreds of them -- 200, 300."

President Obama said that it was "totally unacceptable" that US agencies had not prevented the attack with the information available and demanded preliminary results from two security reviews by tomorrow. He is facing criticism for leaving two key federal security agencies without leaders 11 months into his administration.

Dutch authorities dismissed claims that Mr Abdulmutallab boarded the flight in Amsterdam without a passport. A spokesman for its counter-terrorism office said: "He had a passport and a valid visa for the United States and KLM had clearance on the passenger list to carry him to the US."

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24 Super Eagles listed for Angola 2010

With only a day to the deadline for the submission of a final list of national teams to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, Nigeria yesterday pruned down the list of players invited to the Super Eagles camp in Durban South Africa.

Coach Shaibu Amodu had invited 32 players to the team's camp which opens today ahead of the African soccer show.

But even as the invited players were yet to kick the ball, team selectors yesterday trimmed the down the list to 24 from the initial list of 32 players earlier announced by Head Coach Shaibu Amodu.

The dropped players are made up of all three home-based and five foreign-based. They are Bayelsa United duo of Bassey Akpan and Chibuzor Okonkwo and Heartland's Bartholomew Ibenegbu.

The foreign-based who were also axed by the selectors are Greg Etafia, Dele Adeleye, Olubayo Adefemi, Olufemi Ajilore, and Joseph Akpala.

Nigeria Football Federation Chief Media Officer, Ademola Olajire said in a statement yesterday that after a meeting involving the NFF leadership, members of the NFF Technical Committee and the Super Eagles' technical crew at the NFF Secretariat in Abuja yesterday morning, eight players were dropped from the playing body for the final training camp that starts in Durban, South Africa tomorrow.

Team Captain Nwankwo Kanu is set to make his sixth appearance in the continental showpiece, with his deputy Joseph Yobo and other 'senior' players like Oluwaseyi Olofinjana and Yakubu Ayegbeni also listed.

The three goalkeepers who were at the last competition in Ghana earlier last year also head to Angola, with youngster Elderson Echiejile countenancing his first African Nations Cup.

THE FULL SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama, Bamidele Aiyenugba, Austin Ejide

Defenders: Joseph Yobo, Danny Shittu, Obinna Nwaneri, Taye Taiwo, Elderson Echiejile, Yusuf Mohammed, Chidi Odiah, Onyekachi Apam

Midfielders: Nwankwo Kanu, Mikel Obi, Dickson Etuhu, Sani Kaita, Yusuf Ayila, Oluwaseyi Olofinjana, Kalu Uche

Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Osaze Odemwingie, Michael Eneramo, Obinna Nsofor, Obafemi Martins, Chinedu Obasi.

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Messageboard post by Nigerian terrorist shows he was suffering from depression

An archived messageboard post by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on an Islamic discussion website called gawaher.com reveals that the Nigerian terrorist had been dealing with depression and loneliness. Here is his first post on January 28, 2005:

"Assalamu Alaykum brothers and sisters,

I have several dilemmas i want to get out of and this has made me lonely. As i intent to write a lot, i suggest for anyone who gets board of my long desperate talk to just read the bit they can and advise me even it is just a sentence. I will find it very beneficail and comforting to get help from muslim brothers and sisters. 

Firstly i will start with a bit of my background and then the dilemmas. I am a boarding student in a school with few muslims. For some years now, i hav been doing some da'wah, mainly enjoining good and forbiding evil, and jihadinnafs, trying to become closer to Allah. But i have been facing several problems.

First of all, i have no friend. Not because i do not socialise, etc but because either people do not want to get too close to me as they go partying and stuff while i dont, or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things. Hence i am in a situation where i do not have a friend, i have no one to speak too, no one to consult, no one to support me and i feel depressed and lonely. i do not know what to do. 

And then i think this loneliness leads me to other problems. 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. The Prophet (S) advised young men to fast if they cant get married but it has not been helping me much and i seriously dont want to wait for years before i get married. But i am only 18, (just going to university, insha Allah in London or California). i have not started searching for prospective partners because 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, plus parents are relunctunt to give their daughters in marriage to an 18 year old and sisters are also not normally willing to marry an 18 year old. Anyway alhamdulillah my parents i know could help me financially should i get married, even though i think they are also not going to be in favour of early marriage.

The last thing i want to talk about is my dilemma between liberalism and extremism. The Prpphet (S) said religion is easy and anyone who tries to overburden themselves will find it hard and will not be able to continue. So anytime i relax, i deviate sometimes and then when i strive hard, i get tired of what i am doing i.e. memorising the quran, etc. How should one put the balance right?

Thank you for anyone whoo reaches this stage of reading my problem. May Allah reward you for reading and reward you more for helping. Ameen"

A few months later, June 16 2005, Umar was in Yemen and seemed to have found happiness according to his post:

"Assalamu alaykum

Alhamdulillah i finally got my wish. After a hard battle deciding where to go and what to do, i finally ended up in Yemen. I'm doing a 3 month arabic course and so far it is just great. There are a lot of Brits and Americans also studying in the Institute i'm studying in, Sana'a institute of Arabic Languages- http://www.sialyemen.com 

Its fun too. The institute is actually like a border line between the Old ciyt of Sana'a for those who like a traditional, quiet and peaceful environment, and the new city of Sana'a where bustling like Cairo, with almost anything you want to find, accesceries, clothing (not the best in quality though), food (KFC, Pizza hut, Shawarmas, Italian, chinese, korean, pakistani(Chicken Biryani, indian.....restaurants, gym, amusement parks (not as thrilling as the 7 flags or Alton Towers of course).

Its quite cheap too! For anyone who can afford it and wants to learn arabic, i say come to Sial. Some people have been to various places around the arab world such syria, palestine, egypt...learning arabic but while here at sial, they say its the best. The courses are flexible, it could be private one on one, choose your syllabus, bring your group over for large discounts. Female classes are seperate. Yemenis are so friendly and welcoming. They are very islamically modest. most of the women were niqabs. Yemen is a good place to study arabic for muslims and non muslims as well. there are several non muslims and they are really having a good time.

Hope i get time to tell you more about yemen and the course.

ma'assalam"

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38 Nigerians in Israeli prisons

No fewer than 38 Nigerians are languishing in Israeli prisons over immigration-related offences, Nigerian Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Dada Olisa has said.

He said only 600 out of estimated 3,000 Nigerians residents in Israel registered with the embassy.

Olisa who spoke in Tel Aviv, Israel said recently some of the 38 Nigerians awaiting deportation had been released.

"A few months back when we were given data, 38 Nigerians were in detention, awaiting deportation. But in the past one month or so, a few of them were released," he said.

The diplomat said not all Nigerians in Israeli prisons were criminals as many of them were charged for overstaying in the Middle East country.

"Nigerians are law abiding because their motivation and interest is to make money and the only job opportunity available are menial jobs like cleaning of the environment.

"All they do is to go for cleaning jobs, and some of them work in farms while some may be care givers, if they have the training but Nigerians here are generally cleaners," he said.

He said Nigerians residing in Israel could not afford the high cost of education in the country and this was compounded by language problems.

"We don't have Nigerians schooling here because of the high cost of schooling; an average worker earns $1,000 a month, which is the minimum wage anybody can receive in Israel. School fees is high and I don't see how any Nigerian resident here, who may not be regular, may be able to avoid such school fees," the envoy said.

He said Nigerians who come on pilgrimage to Israel had been warned against defecting, noting that Israel is a small country with tight security.

"We tell them that the kinds of opportunities they may want to have in Israel are not there and if anybody absconds, it is a matter of time, the person will be apprehended,

"In the past few years, there used to be high incidence of absconding but with the combined efforts of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), the Nigerian Embassy and the Israeli authorities, a lot of them have been discouraged from absconding.

"Israel is a country that you have to be here with your legal document; it is not a country that is as large as Nigeria where a legal immigrant could hide for a long time without being discovered.

"Here, it takes no time and when they are discovered, they are deported.

"Nigerians generally are always averse to their embassies; they hardly want to go and register with the embassy. So if they do not register especially if they came in irregularly, there is no way you will know.

"Since I came, I have adopted some measures that encouraged them to have a Nigerian association; which they now have and through their activities a good number of them have started registering," he said.

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Al-Qaeda claim Nigerian bomb suspect

Al-Qaeda has claimed the failed December 25 bombing of a US-bound aircraft in a statement posted on an Islamist website yesterday, US monitoring organisations said.

The statement, which was accompanied by a picture of the suspected would-be bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, boasted that the "Nigerian brother" broke all security barriers for his operation, dispelling the "great myth" of American intelligence, SITE Intelligence said.

He used explosives technology developed by the Mujahedeen in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) "manufacturing department," it said.

AQAP acknowledged that a "technical fault" caused the failure in the operation," the statement added.

Another US monitoring group, Intelcentre, also reported the same posting.

Meanwhile, in response to the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a new set of security measures for the Transportation Security Administration, airports and airlines -- especially foreign carriers -- to follow.

While domestic passengers "should not expect to see the same thing at every airport," TSA said heightened security procedures would include increased vigilance and visibility that may (or may not) take the form of gate screening, added presence of law enforcement officers and canine teams, and other activities.

International travellers, however, are sure to notice a difference. New security measures for international flights heading toward the U.S., TSA said, will require increased gate screening "including pat-downs and bag searches" and a variety of in-flight restrictions.

"During certain portions of the flight," passengers may be asked to put away their personal items, turn off electronic equipment, keep blankets, pillows and personal items off their laps, and stay seated, the agency said.

While TSA's posted Guidance for Passengers gives only general information about the new in-flight restrictions, specific details have been posted on several airport and airline Web sites.

Virgin Atlantic Airlines is telling travellers heading to the U.S. that there will be "extra-screening of passengers and hand baggage at the gate immediately before boarding."

Air Canada posted notice that, under the TSA-imposed rules, "during the final hour of flight, customers must remain seated, and will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps."

Canada's WestJet notified passengers that these and other new procedures, such as the limit of one passenger per bag, are scheduled to be in effect until at least December 30.

In a memo sent to airlines (but not posted on the TSA Web site), airlines flying to the U.S. were instructed to turn off any in-flight entertainment systems with embedded maps or GPS programmes showing the plane's exact location. Pilots and crew members were also told not to make announcements identifying landmarks below.

Rolled out during one of the busiest travel days of the year, the new rules immediately caused confusion, cancellations and delays at many airports.

Some U.S-bound flights from London's Heathrow and other British airports were delayed up to five hours.

On Sunday morning, a spokesperson for Vancouver International Airport reported delays of 30 to 90 minutes for flights destined to the U.S.

At Toronto Pearson International Airport, spokesperson Patricia Krale reported "significant delays for passengers on their way to the U.S. as everyone familiarises himself with the new regulations."

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