Authorities in Yemen questioned people at a mosque and a school in the capital of Sanaa because the facilities were attended by attempted bombing suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the spokesman for Yemen’s Embassy to the United States said Tuesday.
Mohammed al-Basha told CNN’s “The Situation Room” that conversations with AbdulMutallab’s former acquaintances have not yet turned up links to the local al Qaeda group, which has claimed responsibility for AbdulMutallab’s attempt to bring down a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day.
“According to the questionings carried on today by his classmates and administrative officials of the school, [Umar] was a friendly person and did not ring any alarm bells,” he said.
“We knew he attended school in Yemen, and one of the mosques he was visiting in Sanaa we’ve been surveying and questioning some of the people there to see whether he has links or not,” he said. CNN