Attempted bomber was previously barred from Britain

The Nigerian man who allegedly attempted to bomb a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day was barred from entering Britain earlier this year. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is the son of a banker and he graduated from university in 2008 in London but in May 2009 he applied for a visa to return to the UK and it was subsequently turned down when authorities realised the new course he was applying to attend was bogus.

The young Nigerian has been described as being a devout Muslim and he began his terrifying ordeal on a flight destined for Detroit from the Dutch city of Amsterdam by shouting at passengers about the war in Afghanistan. He then continued on his rampage by attempting the detonate explosives that he had successfully sewn into his underwear. Since the incident, security at UK and US airports has been stepped up a notch and passengers in the UK face up to five hours of delays yesterday.

The would-be bomber has been on the US watch list for two years due to his links with extremists. However, he was not prevented from flying to the US. It has also been reported that MI5 were aware of Abdulmutallab but they did not consider him to be worthy of surveillance. His journey started in Nigeria and he went on to change planes in Amsterdam and it has been claimed that he did not go through full body screenings at either of these airports. Abdulmutallab comes from an educated background and his father yesterday spoke of how he had not heard from his son since he left London in November 2008.