What can motivate What can motivate terrorism?terrorism?

Fan Yi (12)Phang Zheng Xun (26)

Liu Fang Xu (22)

General causesStrong feeling of injustice: to seek revenge

Extreme poverty: willing to do anything for reward out of desperation.

Ignorance: believing radical Muslims that terrorism is about fighting a holy war.

Umar Farouk Umar Farouk AbdulmutallabAbdulmutallab

Overview

Farouk

Attempted to blow up a plane headed to Detroit on 25 Dec 2009.

Grew up in Kaduna, Nigeria

Father's banking career brought much wealth.

Strongly religious, which translates into loneliness

Highly educated

Highly educatedGraduate business program in Dubai

(2009)

Mechanical engineering at University College London (2007)

Birthplace

Westernized families like Farouk's have had contact with clerics espousing anti-Western and anti-Jewish ideals.

Sani (neighbour) said:

Kaduna city has a long history of religious extremism and intolerance. For 30 years, there has been violence here. People like Farouk grew up in this atmosphere. I don’t think all his radical ideas came from Yemen.

EG: Many were killed in religious violence incited by the Miss World contest in 2002.

Strongly religious

Criticised his father's profession for charging interest.

An American classmate at the Sana Institute for Arabic Language said:

He'd even leave class in the middle to go to pray at the mosque.

A cousin said:

He would tell his father he needed to quit banking because it was un-Islamic.

Strongly religious

His obsession with Islam was detrimental to his social circle.

Farouk's Internet postings in 2005:

I feel depressed and lonely. I do not know what to do. and then I think this loneliness leads me to other problems.

Mahmoon (uncle) said:

He doesn't do what his peers used to do. He is always indoors reading his Koran.

Unprecedented example?Osama bin Laden's father was a rich

contractor in Saudi Arabia.Second in command in Al Qaeda, Ayman

al-Zawahri, is a doctor who was born into a highly prestigious family in Egypt.

John Walker Lindh, fighter for the Taliban in Afghanistan, was the son of a lawyer.

Why strongly religious?Lonely: These people are usually different

from their social surrounding and are unable to find themselves.

Depressed: Family emphasises academic excellence at the expense of their moods, psychological and intellectual inclinations.

Being lonely or depressed, they seek "religious utopia", a very radical one.

– Hani Nesira, director at Al Mesbar Studies and Research Center

Christmas surpriseChristmas surprise24 – 25 December 2010

Northwest Airlines Flight 253

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)

VideosVideos

Passengers Describe Flight 253

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kXuNQCWdDE

Flight 253: What went wrong?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6045956n

Forewarnings

Farouk's messaged his father saying that he has found "the real Islam" and that his family "should just forget about him".

Farouk's father warned American authorities that his son is a security threat.

Yet he was allowed to board the plane

Pre-boarding

Farouk was seen with a "sharp-dressed" man around 50 years old.

The second man told the ticket agent that Farouk did not have a passport.

Farouk was allowed onto the plane and was unnoticed until attempted attack.

Pre-boarding

The Dutch counter-terror agency said that Farouk presented a valid Nigerian passport and U.S. entry visa.

Did not find any indication from camera recordings that Farouk had accomplices.

It was believed that the unknown man played a role in ensuring Farouk "did not get cold feet".

Failure to detect

Hid explosives in his underwearScreening machines not high-tech enoughFarouk only had to pass through a

magnetometer.

Failed attack

Spent 20 min in the bathroomClaimed he had a stomachache and

covered himself with a blanket after returning to his seat

Attempt to ignite the explosive failed – Only foul odour and popping noises were observed.

Failed attack

Farouk's trouser leg and the wall of the plane caught fire as a result of the failed attempt.

Fellow passenger Jasper Schuringa subdued Farouk.

Flight attendants put out the flame.2 people were injured, while Farouk

suffered from first and second degree burn.

Failed attackFarouk had a 80 g packet of explosive

powder, PETN with acetone peroxideWhich is a highly dangerous plastic

explosive.Farouk claimed that he was directed by al-

Qaeda, and obtained the explosives in Yemen

However, tests suggested that even if the explosive was ignited successfully, the plane would not receive much damage.

International Response

Referenceshttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/world/africa/

17abdulmutallab.htmlhttp://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/

Photo/_new/100124-Abdulmutallab-vmed-1p.widec.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PETN.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Umar_Farouk_Abdulmutallab#Attackhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8548021.stm