U.S President Obama on Saturday said the suspected Christmas Day plane bomber has trained and equipped by al Qaeda in Yemen. It is the first time the American president has accused al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - of standing behind the attack.
Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23, is in American custody after apparently trying to carry out an attack as the aircraft approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam.
Speaking during his weekly radio and internet address, Obama said: "The investigation into the Christmas Day incident continues, and we're learning more about the suspect. "It appears that he joined an affiliate of al Qaeda.
"And that this group - al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America."
Obama also promised to hold the group to account for the suspected attack, declaring the US was at war with a "far-reaching network of violence and hatred."
