According to press reports, 'Umar Faruq 'Abd Al-Muttalib, the Nigerian man who attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day, received the explosives from a bomb expert affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).[1]
At this early stage in the investigation the suspect's ties to AQAP have yet to be corroborated. It is noteworthy, however, that the Emir of AQAP, Nasir Al-Wahishi, wrote about bombing U.S. airplanes in a recent issue of the organization's magazine, Sada Al-Malahim. The issue was dated Shawwal 1430, corresponding to September-October 2009, and was posted on jihadist websites on October 28, 2009.
As reported by JTTM on November 5,[2] Al-Wahishi wrote an article titled "War Is Deception" in which he urged others to emulate Abu Al-Khayr ('Abdallah Hasan Tali' 'Asiri), an AQAP suicide bomber who attempted to assassinate Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Muhammad bin Naif. One of the passages in the article read:
"Make the explosives into a bomb that you can throw, set off with a timer, explode by remote, or make them into an explosives belt; or you can put them in any electronic device, like a digital recorder in which you hear the tunes of explosions, or in a photo album, a folder, or an envelope. Explode them on any taghut,[3] spy nest, Emir, minister, or Crusader, wherever you find them.
"Likewise, [you should explode them] in the airports of the Western Crusader countries that have taken part in the war against the Muslims, or in their planes, on their residential blocks, or in their metros, and so on. ...
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