THESE are the first extraordinary pictures of the deadly Al Qaeda bomb hidden in Abdulmutallab's underwear.
Both the clothing and remnants of the device bear the mark of the flames that erupted when the bomb was partially triggered as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 approached Detroit on Christmas Day.
The six-inch packet of explosive powder was sown into the crotch of the underwear to avoid detection as Abdulmutallab boarded the flight wholesale colthing at Schipol Airport in Amster-dam. Among the official U.S. government pictures obtained by the ABC TV network was one of the badly burned detonator syringe.
The amount of explosive is one-and-a-half times more than that carried by British 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid when he tried to blow up a U.S.-bound plane in December 2001.
Abdulmutallab's hidden stash of PETN explosive powder could have blown a hole the size of a basketball in the plane which had 290 on board.
Disaster was averted because the acid in the syringe he was using to detonate the device merely set his clothes on fire.
Officers investigating whether Abdulmutallab was radicalised while studying in Britain are examining his time as president of the Islamic Society at UCL in 2007.
He organised a week of events under the banner 'War on Terror', including a discussion replica breitling entitled Jihad V Terrorism.
A poster advertising the War on Terror week carries the name Umar Farook and includes events featuring former British Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg entitled Bring Our Boys Home. Another was called And the War Goes On, with controversial MP George Galloway listed among the speakers. Mr Galloway, however, denies ever having spoken at such an event.
Yesterday Yemeni authorities revealed that Abdulmutallab had spent a year 'studying' there immediately before starting his British course in 2005 and investigators believe he may have been earmarked as a potential recruit then.
He spent his second period there between August and December this year.
CAPTION(S):
Boy who grew into a bomber: Abdulmutallab on a London visit in 2003
The bomber's syringe detonator was destroyed in the fire
embroidered patches
His singed underwear with the packet of explosives sewn into it
The package of explosive powder that was hidden in his clothes
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