The father of the man accused of trying to blow up an international flight to Detroit on Christmas day says he tried to warn U.S. officials about his son months ago.
Terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is the son of a Nigerian banker who says he alerted U.S. authorities about his son’s “extreme religious views” long before Flight 253.
The father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former minister and chairman of First Bank in Nigeria, is shocked that his son was even was allowed to fly to the U.S., family members told the Nigerian newspaper This Day.
The dad was meeting with security officials to discuss his son, identified as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23.
The younger Mutallab was not on any no-fly list when he flew from Nigeria to Detroit through Amsterdam, Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) told the Daily News.
When he tried to ignite powder strapped to his leg with a a chemical-filled syringe, he was tackled by a heroic passenger aboard Northwest Flight 253.
The suspect boarded the Airbus 330 – carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members – in Amsterdam after arriving on a flight from Lagos.
He told authorities he got the explosives in Yemen and received orders from Al Qaeda operatives to detonate the device on a plane over U.S. soil, officials said.
He is an engineering student at the University College in London. His last-known address near the school is a $4 million apartment in Central London. Police were searching there Saturday morning.
This Day reported that the suspect has been known for extremist religious views since high school at the British International School in Lome, Togo.
“At the secondary school, he was known for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates and he was popularly called ‘Alfa,’ a local coinage for Islamic scholar,” This Day reported.
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