Federal officials and police are interviewing a Nigerian man, who allegedly tried to "explode" a powdery substance aboard a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, injuring himself and two other passengers, law enforcement officials said.
| The suspect had been in a law enforcement-intelligence database but was not on the government's no-fly list |
The man said he was directed by al Qaeda to explode a small device in flight, over U.S. soil, ABC News has learned. Authorities have no corroboration of that information, and the credibility of the suspect's statements are being questioned, officials said.
The suspect was identified as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who according to federal documents is an engineering student at University College of London.
| Different name than other stories have provided. |
He was flying from Nigeria to the United States for a religious ceremony, according to his entry visa,
| That detail seems to have gotten lost in stories I read this evening, oddly enough. |
which was issued June 16, 2008 and was good until June 12, 2010.
The government had no immediate plans after the incident to raise the threat level, a federal government source said.
The suspect had been in a law enforcement-intelligence database but was not on the government's no-fly list, according to a law enforcement official. |