Date Published: 12/26/09

Father of Nigeria terrorist meeting with security officials

A prominent Nigerian banker says he's meeting with security officials because he fears his son may have been the man who allegedly tried to bomb a U.S.-bound flight.

Former bank official Alhaji Umaru Mutallab says he traveled from his home in the Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north to meet officials in Abuja, the capital. The elder Mutallab says his son, identified by U.S. officials as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, was a student in London. He said his son left London to travel, though he did not know where to.

Mutallab says: "I believe he might have been to Yemen, but we are investigating to determine that."

The attempted bombing happened as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday.