Thread: Nigerian: Detroit airliner attack; father says he warned US

Nigerian man charged in Detroit airliner attack; father says he warned U.S.

Associated Press
Posted December 26, 2009 at 9:49 p.m.

DETROIT — A 23-year-old Nigerian man who claimed ties to al-Qaida was charged Saturday with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner, just a month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns about his son’s religious beliefs.

The suspect claimed to have received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen, a law enforcement official said on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairman of a House Homeland Security subcommittee, said there were “strong suggestions of a Yemen-al Qaida connection and an intent to blow up the plane over U.S. airspace.â€

[b]U.S. authorities told The Associated Press that in November, his father went to the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss his concerns about his son’s religious beliefs.

One government official said the father did not have any specific information that would put his son on the “no-fly listâ€