{"id":336305,"date":"2011-03-24T19:48:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T19:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/24\/why-abdulmutallab-planned-to-bomb-detroit-%e2%80%93-report\/"},"modified":"2011-03-24T19:48:27","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T19:48:27","slug":"why-abdulmutallab-planned-to-bomb-detroit-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/why-abdulmutallab-planned-to-bomb-detroit-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Abdulmutallab planned to bomb Detroit \u2013 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Uduma Kalu<\/strong> with agency report<\/p>\n

LAGOS \u2013 Nigeria\u2019s Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, standing trial for attempted bombing of an American airline on Christmas day in 2009 had considered launching the strike in the skies above Houston or Chicago but he could not afford the flight tickets to these cities. He therefore refocussed the mission on a cheaper destination: Detroit, United States, current and former counter-terrorism officials have said.<\/p>\n

The report showed that Yemen\u2019s branch of Al-Qaida does not strike at symbolic places but any place of opportunity.<\/p>\n

There had been questions on why Abdulmutallab chose to bomb Detroit. Abdulmutallab considered Houston, where he attended an Islamic conference in 2008, current and former counter-terrorism officials told the AP. Another person with knowledge of the case said Abdulmutallab also considered Chicago but was discouraged by the cost. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the case.<\/p>\n

While the target and timing were unimportant, the mission itself was a highly organised plot that involved one of the FBI\u2019s most wanted terrorists and al-Qaida\u2019s go-to bomb maker, current and former officials said. Before Abdulmutallab set off on his mission, he visited the home of al-Qaida manager Fahd al-Quso to discuss the plot and the workings of the bomb.<\/p>\n

Al-Quso, 36, is one of the most senior al-Qaida leaders publicly linked to the Christmas plot. His association with al-Qaida stretches back more than a decade to his days in Afghanistan when, prosecutors said, bin Laden implored him to \u201celiminate the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there he rose through the ranks. He was assigned the job in Aden to videotape the 1998 suicide bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others, but fell asleep. Despite the lapse, he is now a mid-level manager in the organisation. Al-Quso is from the same tribe as radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had an operational role in the botched Christmas attack.<\/p>\n

In December, Al-Quso was designated a global terrorist by the State Department, a possible indication that his role in al-Qaida\u2019s Yemen franchise has grown more dangerous.<\/p>\n

Al-Quso was indicted on 50 terrorism counts in New York for his role preparing for the Cole attack and served more than five years in prison in Yemen before he was released in 2007. On the FBI\u2019s list, al-Quso ranks behind only bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri among the most sought-after al-Qaida terrorists.<\/p>\n

After meeting with al-Quso, Abdulmutallab left Yemen in December 2009 and made his way to Ghana, where he paid $2,831 in cash for a round-trip ticket from Nigeria to Amsterdam to Detroit and back.<\/p>\n

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By Uduma Kalu with agency report LAGOS \u2013 Nigeria\u2019s Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, standing trial for attempted bombing of an American airline on Christmas day in 2009 had considered launching the strike in the skies above Houston or Chicago but he could not afford the flight tickets to these cities. 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