A Nigerian charged Saturday with trying to blow up a US passenger plane is the son of a prominent former banker, a family member said Saturday, shocking the country's wealthy elite. The 23-year-old, named by US officials as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was taken into custody after being overpowered by passengers and crew as the flight approached Detroit from Amsterdam. Abdul Mutallab, son of prominent former banker Umaru Mutallab, told Reuters the suspect was his brother. Investigators in the United States are trying to confirm the man's claims that he has connections to Al-Qaeda. “(Nigeria's) National Intelligence Agency spoke with his father today,” a family friend said on condition of anonymity. The family friend said Abdulmutallab had made two trips to Yemen for short Arabic and Islamic courses. Nigeria's This Day newspaper cited family members as saying Umaru Mutallab had been uncomfortable with his son's “extreme religious views” and had reported him to the US embassy in the capital Abuja and to Nigerian security agencies six months ago. The newspaper said the son had relocated to Egypt and then Dubai, where he cut family ties, after leaving London.
