Al-Qaeda wing claims US plane plot
A group calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has said it was behind the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to bomb a US aircraft on Christmas day.
The group said in statements posted on the internet on Monday that the attempt had been carried out to avenge US operations in Yemen.
“We tell the American people that since you support the leaders who kill our women and children … we have come to slaughter you [and] will strike you with no previous [warning],” the statement said.
“Our vengeance is near.”
The group had earlier said in comments posted on a website that it would take revenge against the US over air raids in Yemen that it claims killed about 50 people
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to to light an explosive device while on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
He was overpowered by passengers on the flight, which had nearly 300 people on board.
According to a charge sheet prepared by prosecutors, Abdulmutallab tried to bring down the aircraft using a device containing the explosive PETN, also known as pentaerythritol.
The explosive material was allegedly sewn into his underwear.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it had provided Abdulmutallab with the device, but that a technical fault prevented it from detonating.
Abdulmutallab, who suffered burns in the incident, was moved from a hospital to a federal prison west of Detroit on Monday.
Janet Napolitano, Obama’s senior security official, said there was “no indication” Abdulmutallab was acting as part of a larger plot and warned against speculating that he had been trained by al-Qaeda.
Source :english-aljazeera
