US plane attacker out of hospital, held at secret place

Washington: Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is being held at an undisclosed location as US investigators work on finding out what prompted the British-educated son of a Nigerian bank executive to attack a US plane on Christmas Day.

Abdulmutallab, 23, charged with attempting to set off an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, was released from a hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sunday after being treated for burns, the US attorney's office in Detroit said.

Investigators were trying to retrace Abdulmutallab's steps halfway across the globe, from the Arabian peninsula to West Africa to Britain, CNN said. Abdulmutallab claimed to have extremist ties and said the explosive device – made from a plastic explosive known as PETN – “was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used,” according to a federal security bulletin.

CNN cited a US official as saying that Abdulmutallab's father contacted the US embassy in Nigeria several weeks ago to report that his son had "become radicalised." The official said the father Umaru Abdulmutallab was deemed credible as a source, but did not have enough specific information to justify cancelling his son's US visa or putting him on a "no-fly" list.

"If we pulled his visa or banned him from flying, that would have alerted him you are onto him," the official said.

"Whereas in some cases if you have a terror lead, you watch to see what happens when he travels, which could be more valuable." In addition, the official said, it was "fairly early in the process of what kind of threat this guy poses."

The father's information was vetted and a determination on how to proceed was made through a US inter-agency process, and a file was opened on Abdulmutallab about five weeks ago.

But the official added, "One part of the system that absolutely failed" was that Abdulmutallab was able to board a plane to the United States allegedly with PETN.

Abdulmutallab first boarded a KLM flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to Amsterdam. Both Nigerian authorities and KLM, a Northwest partner, say he received secondary security screening. But a US official said that Abdulmutallab was not checked for traces of explosives using a more extensive test.