By Jeff Mason
KAILUA, Hawaii (Reuters) - A regional wing of al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Monday for a failed Christmas Day attack on a U.S.-bound passenger plane, saying it was to avenge U.S. attacks on the group in Yemen.
In a statement posted on Islamist websites, the group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it had provided the Nigerian suspect in the attempt with a "technically advanced device" but that it had failed to detonate because of a technical fault.
The group also urged the killing of Western embassy workers in the region as part of an "all out war on crusaders."
President Barack Obama, under fire from Republican opponents for his response to the incident, was to make a statement on Monday afternoon about what the White House called "the attempted terrorist attack," including outlining steps the administration has taken to ensure air safety.
It will be Obama's first public statement on the December 25 incident in which Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is charged with smuggling explosives on board and attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board.
"He will describe the immediate steps the government has taken to ensure the safety of the travelling public," White House spokesman Bill Burton said, referring to Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii.
"He believes it is critical we learn from this incident and take the necessary measures to prevent future acts of terrorism, and he will reference the fact that we need to keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country."
Abdulmutallab has told U.S. investigators that al Qaeda operatives in Yemen supplied him with an explosive device and trained him on how to detonate it, officials said over the weekend.
The incident has put a spotlight on the growing prominence of al Qaeda in Yemen, and on the expanding role of the U.S. military and spy agencies in fighting the group.
The Obama administration admitted on Monday that the Christmas Day incident represented a failure of air security.
Asked on NBC's "Today Show" on Monday if the security system "failed miserably," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano replied: "It did."
Abdulmutallab, who was travelling with a valid U.S. visa although he was on a broad U.S. list of possible security threats, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the Northwest Airlines flight 253 after setting alight an explosive device attached to his body. He was treated for burns and is in federal prison awaiting trial in the incident.
In Nigeria, Abdulmutallab's family said they had reported his disappearance to security agencies months ago after becoming concerned about his increasing militancy.
OBAMA UNDER PRESSURE
The December 25 scare dashed Obama's hope of spending his vacation basking in the afterglow of the Senate's passage of healthcare reform, his signature domestic issue, and switching gears to focus on U.S. job growth as he wraps up his first year in office.
Instead, the White House has spent the past few days fending off Republican criticism and seeking to reassure the public that the president is paying close attention and is focussed on keeping Americans safe.
On Sunday, Napolitano said the system to protect air travel worked, but in appearances on news shows on Monday she said she had meant that the response to alert other flights and airports and impose immediate new safety procedures had been effective.
Napolitano was asked on NBC on Monday if the suspected attempt to destroy a plane represented a new form of threat that the screening system was not equipped to handle.
"I wouldn't go that far," she said. "What I would say is that our system did not work in this instance. No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way."
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on ABC on Sunday: "There's much to investigate here. It's amazing to me that an individual like this who was sending out so many signals could end up getting on a plane going to the U.S."
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it had stepped up pre-flight screening in the United States and Europe. The TSA did not give details, but air travellers described new restrictions on flights headed for the United States, including additional pre-flight screening, and -- an hour before landing -- a ban on movement around the cabin and on having items such as blankets on passengers' laps.
The security scare drove airline stocks down in New York. AMR Corp, the parent of American Airlines, lost 4.8 percent to $7.75, while Delta Air Lines Inc dropped 4.4 percent to $11.25. The NYSE Arca Airline index shed 1.7 percent.
Senate Homeland Security chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent who usually votes with Democrats, said he plans a January hearing, including why Abdulmutallab was not checked against what the senator said was "our broadest list of suspected terrorists" and why body-imaging scanners are not used on more passengers.
Dutch airport authorities said they planned to make new, more sensitive passenger scanners mandatory after Abdulmutallab allegedly smuggled explosives in his underwear through Schiphol Airport security.
The suspect is being held in a federal prison in Michigan and bail is scheduled to be set at a January 8 hearing.
Dutch military police said they were investigating the possibility that Abdulmutallab might have had help from an accomplice before boarding the flight in Amsterdam.
(Additional reporting by Firouz Sedarat in Dubai, Jeff Mason in Hawaii, Debbie Charles and Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Bernie Woodall in Detroit; Chuck Mikolajczak in New York and Camillus Eboh in Abuja; Writing by Jackie Frank, editing by Frances Kerry)
