U.S. President Barack Obama says if security agencies did a better job
of sharing information they might have been able to avoid the attempted
bombing of a Detroit-bound aircraft last week.
Speaking from Hawaii Tuesday, the president said the government did not
properly share information after receiving warnings from the father of
the Nigerian man suspected of trying to detonate a bomb aboard a plane
with 300 passengers.
Mr. Obama says the security system that has been in place for years is
not sufficiently up to date, and the U.S. must quickly act to improve
its homeland security.
The Yemeni Foreign Ministry says 23-year-old suspect, Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab, was in Yemen from early August to early December to
study Arabic. An al-Qaida group in Yemen has claimed it was behind the
bombing attempt.
Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to destroy a Northwest Airlines jet traveling on Christmas Day (Friday) from
Amsterdam to Detroit. Authorities say he unsuccessfully tried to set
off explosives hidden in his underwear as the plane was about to land
in Detroit.
The suspect says he was trained by al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.
