WASHINGTON // The Nigerian suspect in a failed Christmas Day airliner bombing turned against the cleric who claims to be his teacher and has helped the US hunt for the radical preacher, a law enforcement official said yesterday.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who faces terrorism charges in the Christmas bombing, has been co-operating with the FBI for days, providing information about his contacts in Yemen and the al Qa'eda affiliate that operates there.
His co-operation over the US-born Yemeni radical, Anwar al Awlaki, is significant because it could provide fresh clues for authorities trying to capture or kill him in the remote mountains of Yemen.
Al Awlaki has emerged as a prominent al Qa'eda recruiter and has been tied to September 11, Mr Abdulmutallab and the suspect in November's deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.
The law enforcement official would not say what information Mr Abdulmutallab provided, but al Awlaki himself said in a recent interview that he and Mr Abdulmutallab had kept in contact.
A senior US intelligence official said al Awlaki represented the biggest name on the list of people Mr Abdulmutallab might have information against. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive ongoing investigation. Mr Abdulmutallab's co-operation with US authorities is at the centre of a political dispute in Washington.
Democrats say it proves the Obama administration was correct to handle the case as a criminal matter. Republicans accuse the administration of leaking details for political purposes.
Mr Abdulmutallab agreed to co-operate after FBI agents flew to Nigeria and returned to the US with Mr Abdulmutallab's family members. In a federal prison outside Detroit, Mr Abdulmutallab's father and uncle persuaded him to co-operate with the FBI, according to a US official briefed on the talks who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing case.
A month before the attack, Mr Abdulmutallab's father warned the US Embassy in Nigeria that his son might be dangerous, a warning that officials failed to connect to other evidence that intelligence officials had gathered.
The US president, Barack Obama, has said the US had enough information to prevent the attack.
Al Awlaki, who once preached in mosques in California and northern Virginia and posted fiery English-language internet sermons urging Muslims to fight in jihad, said in an interview released yesterday that he taught the Christmas bomber and supported his efforts but did not call for the attack.
"Brother mujahed Umar Farouk - may God relieve him - is one of my students, yes," al-Awlaki said in the interview, which Al Jazeera reported on its website on Tuesday. "We had kept in contact, but I didn't issue a fatwa to Umar Farouk for this operation," al Awlaki was quoted as saying.
Understanding al Awlaki's connection to Mr Abdulmutallab and to al Qa'eda in the Arab Peninsula is a key to the US investigation of the attack and its effort to disrupt other plots. On November 11, British intelligence officials sent the US a cable revealing that a man named Umar Farouk had spoken to al Awlaki, pledging to support jihad, or holy war.
* AP
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Book%20Details
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Company%20Profile
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5