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WASHINGTON - US lawmakers pledged Saturday to hold hearings on an aborted Christmas terror attack on a plane that was making its final descent towards Detroit airport.
Members of Congress reacted with concern to news that Nigerian citizen Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was able to smuggle and light an explosive device aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, which was carrying 290 people from Amsterdam.
John Rockefeller, the Democratic chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the White House contacted him about the incident, and he had also been in touch with security authorities.
"Any terrorist attempt on our citizens is extremely serious. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold hearings in January to look in to this incident and related security matters," said Rockefeller.
Democrat Bennie Thompson said the House of Representatives Homeland Security committee that he chairs "is closely following yesterday's incident."
"The reported act of terrorism -- whether directly related to Al-Qaeda or not -- and the response to it will be the focus of an oversight hearing next month," Thompson said in a statement.
"The committee will get to the bottom of what did and did not happen with Mr Abdulmutallab and what security precautions need to take place in the future."
Joseph Lieberman, an independent lawmaker who chairs the Senate's Homeland Security committee, expressed outrage that Abdulmutallab was able to obtain a US visa and board the flight.
Lieberman noted reports that Abdulmutallab's father was so concerned by his son's increasing radicalization that he contacted the US embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, to warn US authorities.
"I am troubled by several aspects of this case, including how the suspect escaped the attention of the State Department and law enforcers when his father apparently reported concerns about his son's extremist behavior," Lieberman said in a statement.
The US senator also questioned why Abdelmutallab "was not recognized as someone who reportedly was named in the terrorist database."
Meanwhile, in a sign that the attack could have political ramifications, Republican Representative Peter King criticized President Barack Obama for failing to break away from his Hawaii family vacation to make a public statement.
Obama has held secure conference calls with national security advisers and ordered increased security measures at US airports, but King told CNN the president should appear in public.
"This was an assault on the United States. It is important at a time like this the president of the United States or someone in the administration would... step forward," he said.
"It is important to reassure the country, to show leadership... to give a sense of confidence to the country," said King, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence committee.
Obama's Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs are scheduled to appear on several TV political talkshows on Sunday.
Abdulmutallab remained in a Michigan hospital where he was earlier arraigned on charges of attempting to destroy an airplane and bringing an explosive device aboard an aircraft.
- AFP/ir
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