The News Tracker

Fallout from the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day has forced the closure of three Western embassies in the country of Yemen, including the U.S. Embassy. President Barack Obama has said that the suspected terrorist implicated in the bombing attempt aboard Flight 253 received training and support from Al Qaeda terrorist groups based in Yemen. On Sunday, U.S. officials revealed information indicating a planned terrorist attack on the American embassy in Sanaa, where the embassy is located. Britain and Spain also closed their embassies in Yemen based on the information. American officials did not say how long its embassy would remain closed. President Obama placed the blame for the attempted bombing of Flight 253 on an Al Qaeda group that directed the attempted bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Continue reading “Three Western embassies closed in Yemen in wake of attempted bombing of Flight 253” »

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. Continue reading “Lawmakers seek probe into possible security lapses in attempt to blow up Flight 253” »