Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Al-Jazeera TV Report on the Nigerian Community of 'Christmas Day Bomber' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

The following are excerpts from a TV report on 'Christmas Day Bomber' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on January 7, 2010.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2337.htm.

Reporter: "This is the great mosque of Kaduna, the largest city in northern Nigeria, and the largest Islamic center in the north of the country. The imam of the mosque excludes the possibility that the city and the religious ideology that prevails in it have anything to do with the accusations leveled against the Nigerian citizen, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab."

Abd Al-Hamid Balili Wali, Imam of the Mosque: "Let me tell you, the da'wa of this man is not the da'wa of Sheik Abubakar Gumi or of this mosque."

Reporter: "Abdulmutallab's family is one of the city's noble families. His 70-year-old father is a wealthy banker and a former minister. This is the home of the family of Abdulmutallab, who is accused of attempting to blow up an airplane in the U.S. The evening school which Umar attended as a child is only a few meters from here. Like others in this region, Umar's father enrolled him in this Islamic school."

Interviewer: "In which grade did Umar study in the school?"

School teacher Abd Al-Rahman Abu Bakr: "He studied in two classrooms. [pointing] This one and that one."

Interviewer: "What grade did he reach?"

Abd Al-Rahman Abu Bakr: "He began as a child, from age four to seven, the first and second grades of elementary school."

Interviewer: "What was he like? Was he a willing student?"

Abd Al-Rahman Abu Bakr: "Farouk was a smart and polite student."

Reporter: "This is part of what the children are taught at this school – the basic principles of Islam and short Koranic verses. Most of them continue from here to the government schools that teach English. Umar's parents sent him to the UK to study at the age of seven. He began to frequent this school mosque only during school breaks, when he returned to Kaduna, Nigeria."

Mousa Omar Tumadu, School Principal and Imam of the Mosque: "The last time I saw him was four months ago. He left because his father sent him to study in Dubai, after he had studied in Britain. But he did not listen to his father, and he went to Yemen to study Arabic. His father was worried, and so he informed the U.S. authorities of this."

Reporter: "The entire school staff knows Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. They all say that there was nothing to suggest that he might try to blow up a plane in the U.S."

 


Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Head: 'We Have the Right to Enrich Uranium to 100%'

In a January 9, 2010 interview on Iranian TV, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi said that Iran had the right to enrich uranium to 100%, but that it nevertheless preferred to purchase the nuclear fuel it needed from other countries.

It should be noted that uranium enriched to 90% or higher is used only for military purposes, in the construction of nuclear weapons. According to International Atomic Energy Agency regulations, uranium for peaceful purposes may be enriched to no more than 5%, with prior authorization from the agency. Additionally, with the IAEA's authorization, uranium enriched to 19.75% can be used to operate research reactors for medical purposes, like the one in Tehran (this type of uranium can be purchased from countries that operate enrichment facilities).

Following are excerpts from Salehi's interview:[1]

 

In response to a question about exchanging Iran's 1,200 kilograms of uranium, already enriched to 3.5%, for 120 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20%, Salehi said: "Although we informed the IAEA in advance that our centrifuges are set up in such a way that we do not enrich uranium to over 5%, we do have the right to enrich uranium to a level of up to 100%, and we will always have this right. Enrichment to a level of 20% is also within our rights, but we prefer to obtain the [nuclear] fuel from abroad."

Salehi added, "The [Western] countries that negotiated with us on the [nuclear] fuel issue asked us not to publicize [their] informal proposal for the exchange of [nuclear] fuel [meant] for the research reactor in Tehran. Publishing it could have brought us much political advantage." He said further that Iran demanded "tangible guarantees that it would [actually] receive uranium enriched to 20% in a deal of simultaneous [exchange] carried out on Iranian soil."

During the interview, Salehi reiterated several times that even though Iran had the ability to supply its own needs, it preferred to purchase the enriched uranium, so that Iran and the rest of the world could assess the sincerity of the West's proposals.

 

[1] ISNA, IRIB (Iran), January 10, 2010 

 

Posted by Britannia Radio at 09:36