12:55pm UK, Thursday January 07, 2010

Tim Marshall, in Sana’a, Yemen

A Nigerian man charged with attempted murder over the alleged Christmas Day plot was recruited by al Qaeda in London, according to reports.

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23, has been charged with attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction after allegedly trying to blow up a plane.

The country’s deputy prime minister had acknowledged that Mutallab had been in his country.

But he said Mutallab had been recruited by al Qaeda in London, adding that he had been equipped and trained in Nigeria.”

However, senior Home Office officials have denied that Mutallab was recruited by al Qaeda in the UK, saying they think he was recruited and radicalised abroad.

The former London student had previously been charged with trying to set off explosives on board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Explosives allegedly in pants

He has now also been indicted on six counts, including the attempted murder of the other 289 passengers and crew on board the plane, by a US grand jury.

Court documents accused him of “carrying a concealed bomb” inside his clothing on board Northwest Flight 253.

“The bomb consisted of a device containing Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN), Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) and other ingredients,” the charge sheet said, adding that both substances were highly explosive.

“The bomb was designed to allow defendant Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab to detonate it at a time of his choosing, and to thereby cause an explosion aboard Flight 253.”

Mutallab faces life imprisonment if convicted of the charge of trying to use a weapon of mass destruction, the US Department of Justice said.

Two charges of possession of a firearm carry a mandatory jail term of 30 years.

“This investigation is fast-paced, global and ongoing, and it has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads,” Attorney General Eric Holder said.

He vowed that “anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool – military or judicial – available to our government”.

Barack Obama admitted the US security services missed a series of “red flags” which could have uncovered the alleged plot earlier.