White House: Failed Airline Bombing Was Attempted Act of Terrorism

U.S. officials say a Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria said he was acting on behalf of Al Qaeda when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.

One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

Like the shoebomber, he tried to ignite a bomb:

“He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite,” said one of the U.S. officials.

Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries.

Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the passenger was subdued immediately. She had no details on the injuries. Delta and Northwest have merged.

Again, the passengers rose to halt him:

Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident happened during the plane’s descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, “a young man behind me jumped on him.”

“Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic,” he said.

Fox News reports right now that the explosive device was put together with elements that originated in Yemen.

At the WSJ: Midair Bomb Attempt Fails
Man on Flight to Detroit Claims Al Qaeda Ties; Obama Tightens Security

The man, who has not been publicly identified by officials, told investigators that he was given the device by Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen, where he was also given instructions on how to detonate it, the official said. The Associated Press reported that Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) has identified the man as a Nigerian named Abdul Mudallad.
…
The explosive, which was apparently carried onto the flight from its originating airport in Amsterdam, was originally believed to be a small firecracker, but the U.S. official said the device was “more complicated than gunpowder firecracker” and caught fire as the man tried to set it off.

Washington Post: White House: Failed plane attack an attempted act of terrorism

NY Times: Airline Incident Was Terrorism Attempt, White House Says

Richard Fernandez posts,

ABC News now says the suspect was on a “no fly list” and that the powder he was trying to ignite was concealed taped to his leg. A syringe of chemicals was said to have been added to the mixture.

Richard also has a diagram of where the fuel tanks are located in that particular aircraft relative to where the terrorist was sitting.

Islamic terrorism doesn’t give up.