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)