A Nigerian man with possible links to Al-Qaeda was charged Saturday for trying to blow up a US passenger plane with an explosive strapped to his body as it approached Detroit, officials said. The suspect, who was being treated for extensive burns at a Michigan hospital, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the flight from Amsterdam. The passengers, two of whom suffered minor injuries, disembarked safely from the Delta Air Lines plane. “We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a White House official told Reuters. Investigators were trying to confirm the man's claims that he has connections to Al-Qaeda. The Justice Department said the man, whom it identified as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had been charged with attempting to blow up the plane by setting alight a high explosive device attached to his body. A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol. That was one of the explosives carried by Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” who was convicted of trying to blow up a plane headed to the US. Citing US officials, the Wall Street Journal said the Nigerian man had told investigators that Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen had given him the device and instructions on how to detonate it. But NBC, citing anti-terrorism officials, said he claimed to have been acting on his own. ABC News reported that the suspect told FBI agents he had lived with an Al-Qaeda leader for about a month in Yemen, where he was trained in what to do and how to do it. ABC said the explosive device consisted of a six-inch (15.25 cm) packet of powder and a syringe with a liquid, which were sewn into the man's underwear so they would be near his testicles and unlikely to be detected. US lawmakers, briefed on the Detroit incident, said the suspect was a 23-year-old Nigerian man. There were conflicting reports about the man's full name and its correct spelling. In Nigeria, Abdul Mutallab, son of prominent former banker Umaru Mutallab, told Reuters that the suspect was his brother. He said their father was planning to meet with police in Nigeria.
