Dr.
Alhaji Umar Mutallab, father of Christmas Day
bomb
suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, is a
former
Nigerian Minister of Economic
Development
(1975), of
Cooperation and Supply (1976), and
former
chairman of the First Bank Plc. Of Nigeria
The Daily Sun,
Nigeria
Christmas Bomb
Suspect's Family Issues Statement
"To
the best of his parent's knowledge, Farouk had never shown any attitude, conduct
or association that would be cause for concern - and when such issues arose very
recently, they reported this to the authorities and sought their help."
-- Statement issued
by the Mutallab family on the arrest of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab
By Amos Dunia,
December 29, 2009
Nigeria - The Daily Sun - Original Article
(English)
ABUJA: The apparent division of
the Mutallab family over the involvement of one of its sons in a terrorist act
was cleared up on Monday, after the suspect’s father, Alhaji Umar Mutallab,
said his son had cut ties to the family shortly before the incident.
The 23-year-old Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day
just as it was preparing to land in the U.S. city of Detroit. The plane took
off from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport.
A seven-paragraph statement
issued by Mutallab the elder in Abuja yesterday said the parents had become
concerned about Umar Farouk's disappearance and the way he stopped communicating
with family members while in schooling abroad.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
The statement goes on the
explain that Dr. Alhaji
Umar Mutallab, the renowned banker and former chairman of the First Bank
Plc., had contacted Nigerian and foreign security agencies in an attempt to find
and return his son.
The full statement is
reproduced below:
Our
family, like the rest of the world, awoke in the early hours of Saturday, December
26, to news of an attempt by a young Nigerian man to blow up an aircraft. The
man was later identified as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab - the son of the head of
the Mutallabs, Dr. Alhaji Dr. Umaru Abdul Mutallab.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Dr. Abdul Mutallab
reported the matter to the Nigerian security services prior to the incident, about
two months ago, having become concerned about his son's disappearance and the
stoppage of communications while he was in school abroad. Dr. Abdul Mutallab then
sought their assistance in finding and bringing him home.
We
provided them with all the information they required to enable them do this. We
were hopeful that they would find and return him home. It was while we were
waiting for the outcome of their investigation that we arose to the shocking
news of that day.
The
disappearance and cessation of communications that so concerned his mother and
father and prompted them to contact security agencies is behavior that is totally
out of character for their son, and a very recent development compared to his early
childhood. To the best of his parent's knowledge, Farouk had never shown any
attitude, conduct or association that would be cause for concern - and when such
issues arose very recently, they reported this to the authorities and sought their
help.
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America Should 'Hire Private Jets for Muslims'
The
family will continue to cooperate fully with local and international security services
in order to fully investigate this matter. We, along with the entire world, are
thankful to Almighty God that there were no lives lost in the incident. May God
continue to protect us all, Amen.
Finally,
as the matter is being investigated by various agencies and has now been
mentioned in an American court, the family asks that for now, the press regard
this as the only statement it will make.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US, Dec. 29, 12:28am
