Referring to the information he has received from his aides about the failed Christmas Day bombing, Obama said the Nigerian terror suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had travelled to Yemen.
US president Barack Obama today said the al-Qaeda in Yemen provided training and explosives to a Nigerian bomber whose attempt to blow up a packed passenger plane was foiled on Christmas and vowed to defeat the terror group which is "actually based" in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Referring to the information he has received from his aides about the failed Christmas Day bombing, Obama said the Nigerian terror suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had travelled to Yemen.
"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," he said in his weekly address to the nation, more than a week after Abdulmutallab tried unsuccessfully to blow up a Detroit-bound plane of North West Airlines fro Amsterdam which was carrying 278 passengers.
Obama vowed to defeat the al-Qaeda and its affiliated terrorist organisations and to do everything in his power to make the United States safe. This is not the first time this group has targeted the US, he said.
"In recent years, they have bombed Yemeni government facilities and Western hotels, restaurants and embassies, including our embassy in 2008, killing one American," the president recalled.
"So, as the president, I've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government -- training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al-Qaeda terrorists," Obama said.
"And even before Christmas Day, we had seen the results. Training camps have been struck; leaders eliminated; plots disrupted. And all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know -- you too will be held to account," said the US president.
Stating that these efforts are only part of a wider cause, Obama observed that it has been nearly a year since he stood on the steps of the US Capitol and took the oath of office as president.
"And with that oath came the solemn responsibility that I carry with me every moment of every day -- the responsibility to protect the safety and security of the American people."
He said in one year of his administration, he has focussed on those who were responsible for 9/11 attacks.
"On that day I also made it very clear -- our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred, and that we will do whatever it takes to defeat them and defend our country, even as we uphold the values that have always distinguished America among nations," he said.
"And make no mistake, that's exactly what we've been doing. It's why I refocussed the fight -- bringing to a responsible end the war in Iraq, which had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks, and dramatically increasing our resources in the region where al-Qaeda is actually based, in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
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