Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (Arabic: عمر فاروق عبد المطلب; also known as Umar Abdul Mutallab and Omar Farooq al-Nigeri; born 22 December 1986)[3][4] popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber" or "Christmas Bomber",[5] is a Nigerian terrorist who attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, U.S. on 25 December 2009.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is the youngest of 16 children[8] of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a wealthy Nigerian banker and businessman, and his second wife, Aisha (who is from Yemen).
[8] Abdulmutallab attended Essence International School and also took classes at the Rabiatu Mutallib Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, named for his grandfather, at that time.
[27] During those years, Abdulmutallab "crossed the radar screen" of MI5, the UK's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, for radical links and "multiple communications" with Islamic extremists.
[30][31] After graduating from university, Abdulmutallab made regular visits to the family town of Kaduna, where his father was known for financing local mosque construction and other public works.
[32] In May 2009, Abdulmutallab tried to return to Britain, ostensibly for a six-month "life coaching" program at what the British authorities concluded was a fictitious school; the United Kingdom Border Agency denied his visa application.
[38] A fellow student at the Institute said Abdulmutallab would start his day by going to the mosque for dawn prayers and then spent hours in his room reading the Quran.
[8] By September, he routinely skipped his classes at the Institute and attended lectures at Iman University, known for suspected links to terrorism.
[41] In October 2009, Abdulmutallab sent his father a text message saying that he was no longer interested in pursuing an MBA in Dubai, and wanted to study sharia and Arabic in a seven-year course in Yemen.
[43][44] Yemeni officials have said that Abdulmutallab travelled to the mountainous Shabwah Province to meet with "al-Qaeda elements" before leaving Yemen.
[12] A video of Abdulmutallab and others training in a desert camp, firing weapons at targets including the Star of David, the British Union Jack flag, and the letters "UN", was produced by al-Qaeda in Yemen.
[47] Saïd Kouachi, one of the attackers—now deceased—in the Charlie Hebdo shooting, is believed to have been one of Abdulmutallab's neighbors at the Yemeni Arabic language school.
[11][24][51][52] Acting on the report, the CIA added the suspect's name in November 2009 to the US's 550,000-name Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a database of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).
"[57] Tracey D. Samuelson of the Christian Science Monitor further said that the posts "suggest a student preoccupied by university admissions and English soccer clubs, but who was also apparently lonely and conflicted.
"[61] Farouk1986 discussed loneliness and marriage in his postings between 2005 and 2007, writing about his "struggle to control" his sex drive and his desire to get married so that he could engage in sexual activity in a religiously acceptable way.
[64] The New York Times reported in December 2009 that "officials said the suspect told them he had obtained plastic explosives that were sewn into his underwear and a syringe from a bomb expert in Yemen associated with al Qaeda.
[67] When Abdulmutallab returned to Yemen later in 2009, purportedly to study Arabic again, he appeared to have undergone a personality change: he was more religious and "a loner", and wore traditional Islamic clothing.
[12] A number of sources reported contacts between Abdulmutallab and Anwar al-Awlaki, an American Yemeni Muslim lecturer and spiritual leader who had been accused of being a senior al-Qaeda talent recruiter and motivator.
[24][82] Fox News reported that evidence collected during searches of "flats or apartments of interest" connected to Abdulmutallab in London showed that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, based on his web traffic.
The Finsbury Park Mosque said neither Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab nor Anwar al-Awlaki had ever been invited to attend NLCM since February 2005.
[86] CBS News said that the two were communicating in the months before the bombing attempt, and sources say that, at a minimum, al-Awlaki was providing spiritual support.
[89] After being arrested, Abdulmutallab reportedly told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his trainers when he did al-Qaeda training in remote camps in Yemen.
Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the National Security Agency indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a Nigerian" in preparation for some kind of operation.
[96] On 25 December 2009, Abdulmutallab travelled from Ghana to Amsterdam, where he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit.
[100][101][102] Abdulmutallab was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers after the incident and turned over to the FBI pending further investigation.
Saying that "totally unacceptable" systemic and human failures had occurred, Obama told reporters he was insisting on "accountability at every level," but did not give any details.
[112] Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called for a halt to all current plans with regard to Yemen in light of Abdulmutallab's ties there.
[133] Sentencing was initially scheduled for 12 January 2012, but was subsequently postponed to 16 February 2012, to give Abdulmutallab more time to review the presentence investigation report completed by the United States Probation Service.
[135] The motion was rejected, and on 16 February 2012, Judge Nancy Edmunds of Federal District Court in Detroit sentenced Abdulmutallab to life in prison.
[13][136][137] In a statement after the sentencing, Abdulmutallab's family said, "We are grateful to God that the unfortunate incident of that date did not result in any injury or death".