The man who allegedly tried to blow up a transatlantic passenger jet over Detroit has reportedly claimed that he is one from a production line of terrorists that has been trained in Yemen by al-Qaeda.
| And yet he was a total failure, producing only a bit of a flame instead of a proper explosion, and not raising so much as a finger to keep from being subdued by a film director. One is inclined to question the quality of this particular production line. |
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253, told FBI agents others with similar training to him were now ready to launch their own attacks, according to the US network ABC.
The claim came as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released its first communication since the failed bombing. In a written statement it called on "the people of the Arabian peninsula" to attack American military installations, ships and "spying embassies".
The US Embassy in Yemen was attacked by al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists in September 2008, and the USS Cole, a US Navy destroyer, was hit by al-Qaeda in 2000.
The attempted plane bombing on Christmas Day, which was intended to kill all 289 on board, failed only because the bomb's detonator did not work.
| But aren't detonators the easy part? |
Pete Hoekstra, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said: "I think it's very clear it came very, very close. The explosive device went off, it became an incendiary device instead of an explosive device, which is probably what saved that airplane." |