Anwar al-Awlaki has also been linked to the Fort Hood shootings The alleged US plane bomber met radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, after being recruited in London, a senior Yemeni official has said. Last week US security official John Brennan said there were "indications" of direct contact between the two men. Mr Awlaki was linked to an attack by a US Army major on the Fort Hood base in November, in which 13 people died. Yemen's deputy prime minister also said bomb suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab used explosives from Nigeria not Yemen. Mr Abdulmutallab was indicted by a US grand jury on six counts on Wednesday. ANWAR AL-AWLAKI Born 1971 in New Mexico Sermons in San Diego, California, attended by two of 9/11 hijackers Endorsed violence as religious duty Moved to Yemen in 2004 to live in ancestral home village Jailed in 2006 for alleged plot to kidnap US military attache Advised Fort Hood suspect Maj Nidal Malik Hasan by e-mail 
 
 Profile: Anwar al-Awlaki Al-Qaeda's influence in Yemen Q&A: 'Jet bomber' case Charges against him include attempted murder of the 290 people aboard the plane and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Mr Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate a bomb on Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, but the plane landed safely after crew and passengers overpowered him. In a separate development, Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister Rashad al-Alimi said that five Germans including three children and a Briton kidnapped in Yemen six months ago were still alive. He said northern Shia rebels were co-operating with al-Qaeda over the kidnap. 'Not just a cleric' Mr Alimi told journalists that Mr Abdulmutallab "joined al-Qaeda in London". The suspected bomber studied at University College London (UCL) from September 2005 to June 2008 and was president of its Islamic society in 2006-07. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been in custody since 25 December But UCL has said there is no evidence to suggest Mr Abdulmutallab was radicalised while he was there, and UK officials responding to the Yemeni statement said they still believed his recruitment occurred in Yemen in the months before the attack. Mr Alimi said the suspect met Mr Awlaki in the cleric's ancestral home province of Shabwa. Mr Awlaki, a radical American Muslim cleric of Yemeni descent, has been linked to other attacks, including that carried out by Maj Nidal Malik Hasan of the US Army at the Fort Hood base in Texas in November. "Mr Awlaki is a problem. He's clearly a part of al-Qaeda in [the] Arabian Peninsula," Mr Brennan, who is US deputy national security adviser, told CNN last week. "He's not just a cleric. He is in fact trying to instigate terrorism." Some reports say the cleric was killed just before the Christmas attack, in an airstrike on a suspected al-Qaeda base. However, friends and relatives say he was not harmed in the raid. The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Sanaa says Yemen has been accused of soft-pedalling on al-Qaeda and is currently under pressure from its ally the US to produce results. There have been a number of shootouts recently, but the authorities have as yet been unable to capture one of their prime targets, Mohammed al-Hanouk. However, Mr Hanouk is a member of a prominent tribal family, our correspondent says, and this suggests that the government is prepared to push hard in directions it might be easier to leave alone. 'A certain shock' Confirmation of the meeting between the alleged bomber and the cleric comes as the White House plans to publish a declassified account of the Christmas Day plot. In an interview for USA Today newspaper, National Security Adviser Gen James Jones said people would feel "a certain shock" that clues about Mr Abdulmutallab's role were not acted on. President Barack Obama "is legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available, bits of information that were available, patterns of behaviour that were available, were not acted on", he said. Mr Obama is expected to address the nation about the incident later in the day and unveil new steps aimed at avoiding further terrorist attacks. 
 
 
 
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 StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version ||||| WASHINGTON  White House national security adviser James Jones says Americans will feel "a certain shock" when they read an account being released Thursday of the missed clues that could have prevented the alleged Christmas Day bomber from ever boarding the plane. President Obama "is legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available, bits of information that were available, patterns of behavior that were available, were not acted on," Jones said in an interview Wednesday with USA TODAY. "That's two strikes," Obama's top White House aide on defense and foreign policy issues said, referring to the foiled bombing of the Detroit-bound airliner and the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in November. In that case, too, officials failed to act when red flags were raised about an Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Hasan. He has been charged with killing 13 people. Jones said Obama "certainly doesn't want that third strike, and neither does anybody else." The White House plans to release an unclassified report Thursday on what went wrong in the incident involving a 23-year-old Nigerian man who tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight. THE OVAL: Obama not done with fallout from Christmas plot BEFORE ATTACK: Two in three favor full-body scanners, poll finds BOMB-SNIFFING DOGS: Three in Philly fail tests In Detroit Wednesday, the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was indicted on charges that include attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill nearly 300 people. Abdulmutallab, who faces life in prison if convicted, is to appear for the first time in federal court Friday. He has told investigators that he was trained and equipped in Yemen by a group affiliated with al-Qaeda. His father had gone to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria to warn American officials that his son seemed to be turning to extremist ideology. Even so, Abdulmutallab's visa to the U.S. wasn't revoked and he wasn't placed on the "no-fly" list. Jones said the remedies involve "tweaks" rather than the overhaul that followed the Sept. 11 attacks— for instance, hiring for intelligence agencies so analysts aren't overwhelmed by their workload. "We know what happened, we know what didn't happen, and we know how to fix it," Jones, a retired four-star Marine general, said in an interview in his West Wing office. "That should be an encouraging aspect. We don't have to reinvent anything to make sure it doesn't happen again." Senate Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said a "very comprehensive no-fly list" would be "the greatest protection our country has." In an interview, she said the definition of who can be included should be expanded to include anyone about whom there is "a reasonable suspicion." Contributing: The Associated Press Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more ||||| WASHINGTON -- Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born Yemeni cleric who has surfaced in multiple terror probes, is emerging as a central part of the Christmas Day airline bomber investigation, as authorities focus attention on a network of extremists in Yemen who may have helped radicalize the young Nigerian accused in the failed plot. 
 
 Associated Press Anwar al-Awlaki is emerging as a central part of the airline-bomber probe. 
 
 U.S. investigators have uncovered intelligence "chatter" indicating contacts between Mr. Awlaki, who has been under U.S. intelligence scrutiny for years, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a wealthy Nigerian who is accused of trying to down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with explosives hidden in his underwear. 
 
 While Mr. Awlaki had been suspected of having contacts with Mr. Abdulmutallab, the evidence firms up those links. 
 
 The type and extent of the contacts detected between the two couldn't be learned. It isn't clear what direct role, if any, Mr. Awlaki played in the plot. Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, with which Mr. Awlaki is associated, has claimed responsibility for the attack. 
 
 The contacts represent another piece of the intelligence puzzle U.S. officials now say sat unconnected in different parts of the U.S.'s national-security apparatus, which the government spent billions of dollars building after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. President Barack Obama and lawmakers have voiced criticism of perceived intelligence lapses that allowed Mr. Abdulmutallab to get on the Northwestern flight he attempted to bomb. 
 
 Under orders from Mr. Obama, U.S. security agencies are trolling through internal reports, intercepts and other data to determine what was known beforehand about Mr. Abdulmutallab and any others involved in the attack. The president set a Thursday deadline for a preliminary report from his national-security team. 
 
 Mr. Awlaki has rocketed to prominence this year because of his role as Internet-based spiritual guide aiding the radicalization of a new generation of Islamist extremists. 
 
 Mr. Awlaki was in contact with an Army psychiatrist charged in a shooting spree last month at Fort Hood Army base in Texas. 
 
 Mr. Awlaki was among the targets in recent attacks by Yemeni security forces, with U.S. support, against al Qaeda operations in Yemen. Family members have dismissed initial reports that he was killed and his whereabouts are unknown. 
 
 Part of Mr. Awlaki's appeal, say U.S. officials and terrorism experts, is his ability to act as a bridge between the predominantly Arab leaders of al Qaeda and willing potential jihadists in the West. 
 
 He preached at a mosque in Northern Virginia until 2002, when he left the U.S. to spend time building a following in the U.K., before returning to Yemen in 2004. 
 
 He has communicated with potential recruits through Internet Web sites and social-networking sites such as Facebook. 
 
 On his own blog, Mr. Awlaki wrote in October that Yemen was about to become a key player in global jihad. "And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world." 
 
 Mr. Awlaki's following in Britain may be important to the investigation. U.S. law enforcement officials believe Mr. Abdulmutallab took his first steps toward radicalization via the Internet, most likely while in school in London. Mr. Abdulmutallab spent nearly three years at University College London, where he graduated in June 2008. 
 
 With his strong English skills, Mr. Awlaki built a substantial following in the U.K. with video and audio recordings of his sermons. 
 
 Some Muslims noticed a radical shift in his message, especially after his 2006 imprisonment in Yemen, and became increasingly uncomfortable with it. 
 
 "He blamed the whole world for his own feelings and fears," says Ajmal Masroor, spokesman for the Islamic Society of Britain. 
 
 Mr. Awlaki surfaced in the probe of the November Fort Hood shootings. Federal investigators monitoring Mr. Awlaki came across multiple communications from Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the man charged with the shooting spree which killed 13 people. 
 
 But they dismissed the contacts as routine and didn't delve further. Mr. Awlaki has since claimed in interviews that he counseled Mr. Hasan. 
 
 "He's inspirational not operational," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism specialist and professor at Georgetown University. "He's not someone who commands tremendous respect for his grasp of theology or jurisprudence. He's an effective propagandist." 
 
 Michael Rolince, a Booz Allen consultant and former FBI international terrorism chief, investigated Mr. Awlaki and his circle of associates in the U.S. following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. He uncovered contact between Mr. Awlaki and two of the 9/11 hijackers, but wasn't able to prove it amounted to "material support" of terrorism. 
 
 "The fact he's surfacing with such specificity in and around clear terrorists, it leaves no doubt about what business he's been in for quite some time," Mr. Rolince said. 
 
 Mr. Awlaki, 38 years old, followed a familiar path of privileged young man to radical. Born in New Mexico to an affluent father -- a former Yemeni minister of agriculture who is currently an adviser to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh -- Mr. Awlaki was educated in the U.S. 
 
 After coming under the scrutiny of U.S. and U.K. authorities following 9/11, Mr. Awlaki returned to Yemen, where he continued his religious teaching and lectured at Imam University, the head of which has been designated by the U.S. and the United Nations as a terrorist financier. 
 
 In 2006, Mr. Awlaki was arrested by Yemeni authorities and U.S. investigators traveled to Yemen to interview him. He was released in December 2007, but never brought to trial. 
 
 Since his release, Mr. Awlaki left the capital and has been living mostly in his tribal region of Shabwa, according to two Yemeni journalists. 
 
 Separately, new details emerged about the two-piece device investigators say Mr. Abdulmutallab used in the botched attack. 
 
 Tests conducted on a syringe, which investigators believe was part of the device, detected traces of ethylene glycol, which is commercially available in coolants and antifreeze products, according to an FBI summary containing details of the probe reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. 
 
 The syringe is believed to have been used to detonate 76 grams of the explosive PETN, which was sewn in a pouch in the crotch of the underwear worn by the alleged bomber, the FBI document said. 
 
 —Bruce Orwall contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com, Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com and Siobhan Gorman at siobhan.gorman@wsj.com 
 
 Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A1
– The public will feel “a certain shock” at the security failures outlined in the unclassified report on the Christmas Day attack being released today, says national security adviser Jim Jones. In an interview with USA Today, Jones doesn’t downplay the miscues, saying President Obama is “legitimately and correctly alarmed” that intelligence wasn’t acted upon. Combined with the Fort Hood shooting, “that’s two strikes,” says Jones. “He certainly doesn’t want that third strike.” Meanwhile, a Yemeni official confirmed a link between those attacks, telling the BBC that alleged would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had met with radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who authorities believe was also in contact with the Fort Hood shooter. Abdulmutallab was recruited in London, the official said, then flew to Yemen to meet Awlaki. But he noted that the explosives were from Nigeria, not Yemen.