Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, suspected of attempting to detonate an explosive device on a plane bound for Detroit on Friday, had been on a list of people with known or suspected ties to terrorism for at least two years, Fox News confirmed Saturday.
Abdulmutallab was on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list that is maintained by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center and contains people who have loose ties or possible links to terrorism.
People on the list are not necessarily on the no-fly list, or those who are not permitted to board commercial aircraft to or from the U.S.
Abdulmutallab reportedly had links with US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, according to Sky News sources.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) told Fox News it was “very disturbing” that Abdulmutallab been allowed to fly, in an interview with Fox News.
He said that if Abdulmutallab had indeed been in Yemen it should have elevated him to the no-fly list.
Abdulmutallab was subdued before his attack could be fully carried out and the plane landed Friday without fatalities. He received third-degree burns during the terror attempt.
Al-Awlaki, who is thought to have died in a Yemeni airstrike on an al Qaeda meeting December 24, also had links with the shooter who killed 13 people and injured 30 others at a US army base in Texas on Nov. 5.