U.S. border-security agents became aware that thwarted Northwestern Airlines bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a security risk while he was in the air from Amsterdam to Detroit and planned to detain him for questioning upon landing. Almost, guys! Meanwhile, a Yemeni official confirms that Abdulmutallab did indeed meet with radical cleric Anwar Aulaqi while in that country. (You might remember Aulaqi as the same Islamic leader who ministered to Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan while in the United States, and continued e-mail correspondence with him from abroad.) But the Yemeni diplomat, deputy prime minister Rashad al-Alimi, also maintains that Abdulmutallab was not loaded up with explosives there, but rather in Lagos, Nigeria, where he had about a four-hour layover on the way to Amsterdam on December 24. Though he was in the airport the whole time, there is an active Al Qaeda cell operating near Lagos, and according to the Times, its airport is known for its corruption and chaos.
U.S. learned intelligence on airline attack suspect while he was en route [LAT]
Yemen Says Plane Bomb Suspect Met Radical Cleric [NYT]
