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Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Flight 253 PETN Bomb Attempt

by Yuliya Talmazan | December 28, 2009 at 11:26 am

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The Islamist group Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for Flight 253 PETN bomb attempt carried out on Christmas Day by a Nigerian terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab in a statement released on the organization's website. It is being reported that Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula has said that the attempted attack was a response measure to the U.S. attack on a group in Yemen. Meanwhile, the White House has admitted that air travel security has failed in Flight 253 bomb scare.

On December 24th, it was reported that 30 Yemen militants were killed by a U.S. air strike in the Shabwa province of Yemen. Two of Al Qaeda's top members were reportedly killed.

Al Qaeda is widely believed to be responsible for the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, which launched the so-called "war on terrorism" under George W. Bush's administration.

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Scott Wu

flagged this story as Breaking

at 11:28 on December 28th, 2009

Yuliya Talmazan, thanks for getting this story out so quickly. It will now show up on the home page for four hours. If new developments justify it, I'll renew this flag for another cycle.

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A. Tran

at 17:29 on December 28th, 2009

Some additional details about Al Quaeda in the Arabian Peninsula:

The group said Abdulmutallab used explosives manufactured by al Qaeda members. "He managed to penetrate all devices and modern advanced technology and security checkpoints in international airports bravely without fear of death," the group said in the statement, "relying on God and defying the large myth of American and international intelligence, and exposing how fragile they are, bringing their nose to the ground, and making them regret all what they spent on security technology."

The group also released what it said was a photo of Abdulmutallab, smiling in a white shirt and white Islamic skullcap, overlaid on a graphic showing a plane taking off. In a second version of the same photo, he is shown with the Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula banner in the background.

stejeb

at 11:54 on December 28th, 2009

"Yemeni forces, aided by US intelligence, carried out two airstrikes against al-Qaeda in the country this month, the second of which came on the eve of the attempted plane bombing." Source BBC

Kind of makes you wonder if al-Qaeda are just jumping in to claim responsibility falsely, it might just be that some of their claims along those lines are little more than spurious attempts to keep people beleiving they have world influence they don't possess, some of the nuts that carry out these sorts of attacks often claim inspiration by people they sadly admire.

YankeeJim

at 12:11 on December 28th, 2009

That's like saying I wiped this morning after my morning constitution.

snuffysmith

at 12:39 on December 28th, 2009

Qaeda-Linked Group Claims It Was Behind Bomb Attempt -- New York Times

HONOLULU — President Obama emerged from Hawaiian seclusion on Monday to try to quell gathering criticism of his administration’s handling of the thwarted Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner as a branch of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attempted attack.

“We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable,” Mr. Obama told reporters during a break in his 10-day holiday vacation. “This was a serious reminder of the dangers that we face.”

Read more

Am I surprised by this scampering around and putting a brave face on what was a clear attack on the U.S. this past Christmas .... A resounding No.

The U.S. media is asleep (not the European media). The President is asleep. The Administration is asleep. Congress is definitely asleep. The American media is asleep. Everyone is asleep.

Yul - You are not asleep. Thank you for posting this.

rita mcginley (not verified)

at 16:31 on December 29th, 2009

we keep hearing that the government know there are about 300 who want to blow up this country if they know them round them all up lock them away till you have the time to check them out these are dangerous times now we have got to get tough now to save livesthe p.c. tosh has to stop now we are talking of these nutters wanting to murder as many people as they can they do not care who just do it i want to feel safe again