[Al Arabiya Latest] U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Monday to hunt down extremists wherever they plot attacks against the United States as al-Qaeda claimed it hatched the attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day.Obama pledged to "disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us--whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland."
" A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism and we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable "U.S.President Barack Obama |
"A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism and we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable," Obama said in his first public comments since the botched attack.
Abdulmutallab has told U.S. investigators that al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen supplied him with an explosive device and trained him on how to detonate it, officials said over the weekend.
As millions of edgy air travelers endured stringent new security measures for flights around the globe, Obama was under massive pressure to ease frayed nerves and counter accusations his administration is soft on terror.
The incident has put a spotlight on the growing prominence of al-Qaeda in Yemen, and on the expanding role of the U.S. military and spy agencies in fighting the group.
"This was a serious reminder of the dangers that we face and the nature of those who threaten our homeland," Obama said, three days after catastrophe was narrowly averted on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
In a statement posted on Islamist websites, an al-Qaeda affiliate in the Arabian peninsula said the attempt was to avenge U.S. attacks on them in Yemen.
It said it had provided the Nigerian suspect in the failed airliner bombing with a "technically advanced device" but that it did not detonate because of a technical fault.