美国加紧调查航班爆炸事件

爱思英语编者按：一名尼日利亚男子25日在飞往美国密歇根州底特律的客机上引爆一个爆炸装置，但因装置失灵未引发剧烈爆炸，客机最终安全降落。联邦调查局26日经初步审讯后认为，这名男子可能与恐怖组织无关，炸机是其个人行为。正在休假的美国总统奥巴马下令加强民航安全。国土安全部也在网上发布声明说，将会增加对国内和国际航班的安全检查。

The Nigerian suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was moved to prison from a hospital. He was not expected to appear at a 2 p.m. EST court hearing on Monday in Detroit, where prosecutors plan to seek an order to obtain his DNA.

Abdulmutallab, 23, is charged with attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines jumbo plane as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board.

Asked whether al Qaeda was involved, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told ABC"s "This Week" program, "That is now the subject of investigation and it would be inappropriate for me to say and inappropriate to speculate.

"Right now, we have no indication that it is part of anything larger," Napolitano told CNN"s "State of the Union."

The incident exposed still-raw nerves in the United States eight years after the September 11 hijacked plane attacks, as well as the political divisions that have emerged since. A sick passenger on the same Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight caused a major security scare at the Detroit airport on Sunday while Republicans began criticizing the Obama administration over anti-terrorism efforts.

A U.S. law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed media reports that Abdulmutallab had told investigators al Qaeda operatives in Yemen had given him the device and told him how to detonate it.

In Yemen, al Qaeda vowed to take revenge over raids against the group this month that it said were carried out by U.S. warplanes. The group"s Internet statement, dated December 20, appeared shortly after Napolitano"s comments.

On Friday, Abdulmutallab was overpowered by passengers and crew after setting alight an explosive device attached to his body, and was treated for burns at a Michigan hospital. He was released and transferred to a prison Sunday morning.

SECURITY WORRIES

Republicans appearing on Sunday television programs questioned whether the Obama administration was doing enough to monitor security threats, noting that Abdulmutallab"s father had reported concerns about his son to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

"There"s much to investigate here. It"s amazing to me that an individual like this who was sending out so many signals could end up getting on a plane going to the U.S.," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on ABC.

"Radicalization is alive," Representative Peter Hoekstra, ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, told "Fox News Sunday." "It is well. They want to attack the United States. I think this administration has downplayed it."

President Barack Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, appealed through spokesman Robert Gibbs for Republicans and Democrats to avoid a political fight.

"I hope that everyone will resolve in the new year, to make protecting our nation a nonpartisan issue rather than what normally happens in Washington," Gibbs said on NBC.

Security officials were investigating how Abdulmutallab had been able to get explosive materials onto the plane despite higher security worldwide since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Al Qaeda was held responsible for those attacks.

In Sunday"s incident, the crew of that same flight reported an emergency because of an unruly passenger. The crew was worried the passenger, also from Nigeria, was spending too long in the bathroom but authorities later determined he was ill.

The U.S. government created a record of Abdulmutallab last month in its central repository of information of about 550,000 known and suspected international terrorists.

Gibbs told CBS" "Face the Nation" there was not enough information on Abdulmutallab to move him beyond that list.

The U.S. law enforcement official said Abdulmutallab"s visa had been issued long before he was added to the database.

Napolitano said authorities were reviewing rules on who goes on lists to identify people who might pose threats and also would review screening policies and technologies.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

SECURITY QUESTIONED

Airports and airlines in the United States and around the world have tightened security after the foiled attack. Napolitano and Gibbs sought to reassure travelers that they would be safe.

Peter King, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the system did not work.

"He made it on the plane with explosives and he detonated explosives," King told CBS. "If that had been successful, the plane would have come down and would have had a Christmas Day massacre with almost 300 people murdered. So this came within probably seconds or inches of working."

An initial FBI analysis found the device used by Abdulmutallab contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, one of the explosives carried by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid in his failed attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger jet just before Christmas in 2001, months after the September 11 attacks.

The device was a packet of powder and a liquid-filled syringe sewn into the suspect"s underwear, media reports said.

A Dutch passenger, Jasper Schuringa, was credited with subduing Abdulmutallab as he was igniting the explosives.

Abdulmutallab started his journey in Nigeria"s commercial hub of Lagos, where he boarded a KLM flight to Amsterdam before going through another security checkpoint at Schiphol airport, Dutch counter-terrorism agency NCTb has said.