US intelligence agencies had enough information to prevent the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner and "failed to connect those dots" that would have kept the suspect off the plane, President Barack Obama has said.
The US government had details on both the suspected bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and plans by an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Yemen to strike US targets, Mr Obama said.
He blamed the failure on a breakdown in intelligence-sharing among agencies. The plot was
foiled when the explosives failed to ignite and passengers and crew aboard the flight on December 25th took action.
"The US government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack," Mr Obama said at the White House after meeting with senior advisers.
"This was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had."
Mr Obama also reaffirmed his commitment to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He said the administration is suspending transfers of detainees to Yemen, where the al-Qaeda affiliated group linked to the bomb attempt is located.
The president convened yesterday's meeting to review steps the government is taking to close gaps in intelligence and security procedures after the failed attack aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam.
Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, is charged in the US with smuggling explosives onto the flight and attempting to set them off as the plane approached Detroit's airfield.
Mr Obama has said evidence indicates Abdulmutallab was trained and equipped by an al-Qaeda affiliated group in Yemen.
The Central Intelligence Agency has said it learned about Abdulmutallab in November, when his father went to the US embassy in Nigeria to seek help in finding him.
His name was on a broad-based government list of individuals with suspected terrorist links. While there were
what Mr Obama called "other red flags," Abdulmutallab was not added to more specific lists of individuals who require additional screening or should be barred from flying.
"It is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analysed or fully leveraged," Mr Obama said.
Bloomberg