SANAA: A Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a US-bound plane on Christmas Day was recruited by al-Qaeda in London and met a radical American Muslim cleric in Yemen, a senior Yemeni official said on Thursday.
“The information provided to us is that Umar Farouk (Abdulmutallab) joined al-Qaeda in London,” Rshad al-Alimi, Yemen’s deputy prime minister for security, told reporters.
Abdulmutallab, son of a prominent Nigerian banker, is believed to have embraced extreme religious views during trips to Yemen to study Arabic and Islam. He also studied engineering at University College London between 2005 and 2008.
Alimi said that, during his time in Yemen, Abdulmutallab had met Muslim preacher Anwar al-Awlaki — a US-born cleric linked to the gunman who ran amok at a US army base in November.
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