Nigerian suspect led devout, quiet life in Yemen

[December 30, 2009]  SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- The roommate of the Nigerian suspected in the attempted attack on a U.S. airliner says the would-be-bomber led a devout life and shunned music and women while he stayed in Yemen.

Yemeni officials have confirmed that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab spent time in Yemen just before the attempted Christmas Day attack and that he studied Arabic at a local language institute.

His roommate, Ahmed Hassan, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Nigerian would sometimes disappear from the suite they shared without any explanation.

One of the teachers at the institute, Ahmed Mohammed, says Abdulmutallab spent the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan sequestered in a mosque and attended barely four hours of the 20-hour course he enrolled in.

[Associated Press]

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