This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/8437496.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Obama links al-Qaeda to jet plot | Obama links al-Qaeda to jet plot |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| US President Barack Obama has for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda over the alleged Christmas Day bomb plot to blow up a US plane. | |
| He said it appeared Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had armed and trained the accused, 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. | He said it appeared Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had armed and trained the accused, 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. |
| The group admitted responsibility in an internet statement last week. | |
| Mr Obama has already condemned lapses that allowed the accused, who was on a terror database, to board the jet. | |
| In his weekly radio and video address posted on the White House website early on Saturday, Mr Obama said more details of the alleged plot were becoming clear. | In his weekly radio and video address posted on the White House website early on Saturday, Mr Obama said more details of the alleged plot were becoming clear. |
| All those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know you too will be held to account Barack Obama Q&A: 'Jet bomber' case Profile: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab UK calls global summit on Yemen | |
| "We know that [Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies," said Mr Obama, who is on holiday in Hawaii. | "We know that [Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies," said Mr Obama, who is on holiday in Hawaii. |
| "It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America." | "It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America." |
| US officials have not until now publicly accused al-Qaeda over the incident on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. | US officials have not until now publicly accused al-Qaeda over the incident on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. |
| Mr Obama has come under heavy criticism from Republicans, who accuse him of not doing enough to prevent attacks on the US. | |
| Some Democrats, too, have joined the clamour for an overhaul of intelligence procedures. | |
| The US president - who last week ordered two security reviews - used much of his latest address to outline his administration's measures to keep America safe. | |
| He said these included withdrawing troops from Iraq, boosting troop levels in Afghanistan and targeting militants in Yemen, where the suspect spent time before the attack. | |
| "All those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know you too will be held to account," he said. | |
| The US Congress, meanwhile, is preparing hearings to question intelligence officials on security failings that allowed a man who US officials had been warned about, and who had a valid US travel visa, to allegedly smuggle explosives on to a transatlantic jet. | |
| Mr Abdulmutallab, now in US custody, is accused of trying to detonate explosives strapped to his body as the plane, with nearly 300 people on board, prepared to land. | Mr Abdulmutallab, now in US custody, is accused of trying to detonate explosives strapped to his body as the plane, with nearly 300 people on board, prepared to land. |
| The mid-air drama on 25 December has spawned a worldwide aviation security review. | |
| British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Friday that rising Islamist militancy had turned Yemen into "an incubator for terrorism". | |
| He announced an international conference in London in late January to discuss the danger. |