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| Arabic study may have been cover for Undieboomer |
| 2010-01-01 |
| The Nigerian suspected of trying to bring down a U.S. airliner with explosives might have used Arabic studies as a pretext for entering Yemen before disappearing for months, perhaps into one of the lawless country's al-Qaida strongholds, fellow students and teachers said. Interviews with staff and students at the Institute for the Arabic Language this week have revealed that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was frequently absent from classes and spent at most one month at the school in Yemen's capital, San'a, starting in late August before vanishing. Authorities say he didn't leave the country until December and that his whereabouts during that period remains a mystery. Adding to the notion that his studies were a ruse, one teacher at the institute said the young man stood out because he already spoke Arabic with a considerable degree of fluency. "I noticed he understood the language very quickly and he was eloquent and convincing in his speech," Ahmed Moajjib said. U.S. investigators have said the 23-year-old Abdulmutallab told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen. He is accused of trying to detonate an explosive device hidden on his body as a Northwest Airlines flight carrying 289 people approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Gives a whole new meaning to "thermal underwear". |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2010-01-01 10:25 |
| #1 May I respectfully suggest "he" be renamed the Pantybomber, mostly due to the heat generated by the incendiary. That has to leave a mark! or erase one. |
| Posted by: Steven 2010-01-01 00:33 |