More terrorists 'ready to attack'

Dec 29 2009

The alleged terrorist behind the Christmas Day airliner plot is said to have told US agents there are more people "just like him" ready to carry out future attacks.

An al Qaida group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit as US president Barack Obama pledged to hunt down the plotters.

The US State Department said counter-terror agencies were warned that Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who allegedly tried to blow up the airliner, may be under the influence of extremists.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said it was up to the National Counterterrorism Centre to coordinate the inter-agency effort that would have blocked the 23-year-old from entering the US.

He said counter terror agencies received the information about Mr Abdulmutallab's possible extremist links on November 20, a day after it was provided by the father, but it was not enough to revoke the visa. Mr Kelly said officials get thousands of negative messages about people that are not always accurate.

He said Mr Abdulmutallab got the two-year tourist visa in 2008 because he had money, was attending a reputable school and had visited the US before.

Meanwhile, photographs apparently showing the underpants filled with explosives worn by Mr Abdulmutallab were broadcast by ABC News in America.

The American government pictures show the singed underwear with a six-inch packet of a high explosive called PETN sewn into the crotch, the US network reported.

ABC News said Abdulmutallab was carrying about 80g of PETN, more than one-and-a-half times the amount carried by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid in 2001 and enough to blow a hole in the side of an aircraft.