posted
Dec 27, 2009 by News Hunter
The ill-fated attempt at blowing up Northwest airline Flight 253 on Christmas Day apparently was a one-shot deal and not part of a larger conspiracy by terrorists to disrupt airline flights, according to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Napolitano also warned that it would not be correct to assume that Al-Qaeda had trained the suspected bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to blow up Flight 253. CNN quoted the Homeland Security chief as saying, “I think it would be inappropriate to speculate as to whether or not he has such ties.” However, the suspect is reported to have told authorities that he had received training from Al-Qaeda in Yemen and had confessed to attempting to blow up Flight 253. Meanwhile, as a result of the attempted bombing plot against Flight 253, U.S. lawmakers are said to be calling for an independent investigation into what appear to be security lapses that allowed a person on a list of security threats to obtain a U.S. visa and board a plane. Sources said Napolitano indicated the suspect was on a “low-level” watch list but probably should have been on a higher priority list, given his background and family concerns that he was a security risk.
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