Above: Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, a.k.a. Underwear Bomber,
flew on Ethiopian Airlines from Dubai to Accra, making a stop
over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, authorities said.
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
New York (Tadias)- Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the Nigerian citizen suspected of attempting to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit, had apparently traveled on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Dubai to Accra making a stop over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He then purchased a KLM ticket in Accra before proceeding to Lagos, en route to Amsterdam and Detroit, Ghana News Agency reports.
Mutallab, who arrived in Ghana on Dec 9 and departed for Nigeria on Christmas eve, was allowed entry into Ghana on the basis of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol, which grants West African citizens the privilege to spend up to 90 days in a member country without obtaining a formal resident permit, Ghanaian authorities said on Monday.
“He got in and was processed by the immigration as any other ECOWAS citizen because we had no knowledge of any security alert on him,” Ghana’s Deputy Information Minister Mr James Agyenim-Boateng said.
According to GNA, the Deputy Minister said “while in Ghana, he {Mutallab} checked into a hotel at Dzorwulu in Accra and throughout his stay, he did nothing to create suspicion of any sort.”
Mr. Agyenim-Boateng also responded to a statement by Nigerian officials that the would-be bomber had purchased his ticket in Ghana and therefore his journey began there.
“It is interesting to note that although he bought the KLM ticket in Accra, he decided to start that journey from Lagos,” he said. “Why did he not fly direct with the KLM from Accra to Amsterdam?”
Umar Mutallab, 23, a son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, was charged on December 26, 2009, with attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner using explosives hidden in his underwear. He is currently held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, in Milan, Michigan. He faces trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Video: Not guilty plea entered for Nigerian bomb suspect
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Related:
Suspected ‘Underwear Bomber’ Flew on Ethiopian Airlines (Nazret.com)
What scary time we live in. We work hard to raise our children and those have us who can afford it send them abroad for education so they can become doctors, engineers, lawyers, instead they go to London and get radicalized and do something stupid like this guy, and if they are not dead, they will end up spending the rest of their lives in jail, instead of working to better their families lives using their education. I am assuming he flew Ethiopian Airlines and just made a transit stop in Addis. If the Americans had him on a no-fly list, Ethiopian Airlines would have caught him. Ethi is the best airlines in Africa.
May be right. Because Ethiopia may not have a sensitive instrument to check out some one with this kind of sensitive explosives at the airport.
This guy may have taken several airlines throught his life. Why do you mention about Ethiopian Airlines? please do not try to link the safest airlines in the world with such kind of bad news. Thank you
news is news, bad or not. people are entitled to know the news. it is not about linking. the fact is this underwear guy flew on Ethiopian Airlines from Dubai to Accra. I need to know this information. There is nothing to hide? Fact is fact. That’s a very important information to know where this guys itinerary so investigators get clear picture of what happened and who were his handlers? He took Nigerian Airways from Gana to Lagos and he took KLM from Lagos to Amsterdam and transferred to Northwest Airlines to Detroit. How did he get to Ghana from Dubai? By horse? By car? Did he take a taxi? No, he took Ethiopian Airlines. For me, the moral of the story is the whole world is at risk and need to step up to the plate to make us all secure from this crazy ppl. This is serious business.
I’m sure everybody know that, Des but they try to show how close this radicals are to home. Anyways what I always wish is, Ethiopian Muslims not to get any close with these radicals. No matter how much some country’s try to implant this hatred among our people, God will protect Ethiopia, both Christian and Muslim.
We know which commercial airplane brought him to Ghana. He deployed from Ethiopian Airlines flight in Accra on December 9th. However, as already mentioned, Ethiopian Airlines is one of the best in Africa. I fly Ethiopian airlines all the time and it is a preferred airline by many West African and international businessmen, women, diplomats and government officials. Ethiopian Airlines is the unofficial airline of Africa flying numerous destinations. It probably is the only airlines in Africa offering the long distance route from Dubai to West Africa, so I am not surprised this fellow chose to patronize Ethiopian Airlines. This should raise a security alert, but is speaks no less of Ethiopian Airlines as it does of KLM, Virgin-Nigerian Airways, and Northwest Airlines.
This is serious for all mankind. It is not a surprise to take Ethiopian from Dubai to Accra.
well every country need that x ray {security machine} which show full body. And I really don’t believe human rights has anything to do with terrorists . All of us show our body to a doctor, so as long as the authorities keep their ethics, it is the best choice for every country to avoid this kind of danger .