The path from Nigeria to Seat 19A - He grew up rich but wound up being called a monster

[Bozita]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100110/NEWS07/1100516/1318/The-path-from-Nigeria-to-Seat-19A&template=fullarticle

POSTED: JAN. 10, 2010
The path from Nigeria to Seat 19A
Abdulmutallab grew up rich but wound up being called a monster
BY AMBER HUNT, FRANCIS KOKUTSE AND LAURA POTTS
DETROIT FREE PRESS


By Nigerian standards, his childhood home was a palace -- a gated mansion on a dirt street in a poor town.

As a child, he played soccer on scruffy fields that doubled as zoo grounds, wearing cleated shoes that cost more than professional teams in his homeland could afford.

In London, where he attended one of the world's top universities, he lived in a multimillion-dollar apartment in an exclusive enclave of Westminster -- a far more posh setup than any average student could envision.

And in federal court in Detroit, where he stood accused of terrorism charges that could land him in prison for the rest of his life, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab bore the quiet demeanor and youthful face of a well-raised boy, despite allegations he boarded a plane intent on killing nearly 300 innocent people.

By all accounts, 23-year-old Abdulmutallab is a study in contradictions: soft-spoken but extreme; respectful but rebellious; surrounded by family but painfully alone.

"Something definitely went wrong somewhere," said Alhaji Sambo Idris Sambo, district head of Funtua, Abdulmutallab's hometown in Nigeria's northern state of Katsina.

"This has devastated the senior Abdulmutallab because he did not believe his child would turn into something like this," said Alhaji Sambo, who spoke to the suspect's father in the days after the Dec. 25 terror attempt. "He told me he was wondering what has gone into his son's mind for him to do what he did."

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Free Press Staff Writer Amber Hunt wrote this story based on her reporting and that of correspondents Francis Kokutse in Nigeria and Laura Potts in London. Staff writer Todd Spangler in Washington and the Associated Press also contributed to this report. Contact AMBER HUNT: 313-223-4526 or [e-mail]

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Similar things have happened before, of course

In this country, in the 60s, some kids raised with wealth and privilege ended up planting bombs.

[yurbud]

2. if this had been any other type of crime with the exact same weapon, wouldn't this guy

be called pathetic or even laughable?