'System' failed US in bomb plot

Washington, 30 Dec-(ANA)-President Barack Obama has said a systemic failure allowed a known extremist with explosives to get onto a US-bound plane last week.

Mr Obama said he considered the intelligence and security failures to be "totally unacceptable".

The US needed to learn from the incident and act quickly to fix flaws in the system, he said.

A Nigerian man charged with attempting to blow up the plane as it came in to land was restrained by passengers.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, allegedly tried to detonate explosives in his underwear.

A Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaeda has claimed it planned the failed bombing, and Yemeni officials say the group could be planning more attacks.

In a blunt statement, Mr Obama said he wanted to know why a warning weeks ago from Mr Abdulmutallab's father did not lead to the accused being placed on a no-fly list. (ANA)

FA/ANA/30 December 2009---