DETROIT — The man accused of trying to bring down a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on Christmas Day spent two weeks in Houston last year attending a seminar conducted by a Web-based Islamic education center.
Waleed Basyouni is the vice president of the AlMaghrib Institute. He said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab registered online in April 2008, then attended a two-week program hosted by the institute in Houston in August 2008. The institute is a non-profit with 20,000 students.
He said school records show Abdulmutallab identified himself as a 21-year-old Nigerian student at University College London and the London School of Economics who was studying mechanical engineering and business finance.
Basyouni said the institute is working with the authorities on the case.
Local 4 has learned that Abdulmutallab had at least 30 grams more of PETN than what Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” had aboard an airliner in 2001, that blew a whole in the side of the plane.
If the 23-year-old was successful, the explosion would have happened over the area near Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and local neighborhoods including Grosse Pointe and St. Clair Shores.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines is offering travel credits to passengers on the Northwest Airlines 253 Amsterstam-to-Detroit flight.
Spokeswoman Susan Elliott told The Associated Press on Wednesday the carrier is notifying passengers about the vouchers. The amount wasn’t disclosed.
The flight was carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members.
Local 4 has learned that local FBI agents have been taking their own precautions to fight terrorism, even before the attempted Christmas Eve attack.
The FBI sent out alerts to local beauty supply shops to be aware of anyone buying large quantities of chemicals.
What’s Next For Suspected Terrorist
Abdulmutallab was charged on Saturday with trying to detonate an airliner and transferred to a Milan prison, where he awaits a Jan. 8 hearing.
There has been some discussion on whether the case should be turned over to the military or tried here in Detroit.
Former Assistant U.S. attorney John Freeman said if it’s tried in Detroit, security in and around Detroit will be beefed up and it will be costly to taxpayers.
Freeman said the trial could be rather swiftly, or lengthy, depending on how prosecutors prepare the case.
“If they are focusing just on the events of Christmas Day, of one individual on an airplane, that could go to trial fairly quickly, but if you’re looking to building together a conspiracy case, that he acted with other individuals in other countries, that could be a much longer process,” said Freeman.
Freeman also mentioned that there is a lot of activity going on behind the scenes as prosecutors prepare their case.
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