United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee has asked the father of Nigerian terror suspect to testify before it, a spokesman for the committee told The Detroit News on Monday. The terror suspect, Mr. Umar AbdulMutallab, is facing trial for allegedly trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it headed into Detroit on Christmas day. The 23-year-old terror suspect whose trial continued on Monday appeared in the court for the first time amid tight security on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to six count charges. His father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, warned the US embassy in Nigeria that he was concerned his son was becoming radical. “Congress is wrestling with the specific questions of the Christmas day bombing plot and the

broader questions of how Yemen has become a touchstone for radicalism,” Detroit News quoted committee spokesman, Mr. Frederick Jones as saying. ”Mr. Mutallab, who identified his own son as an extremist and threat to the United States, has an important story to tell, and the committee would like to hear from him.” The hearing is one of many expected on Capitol Hill that will look into weakness in US intelligence and airport security.

Meanwhile the two US senators said on Sunday the country needed to punish officials, correct security lapses and limit opportunities to join jihad overseas. Senators Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Independent, and John McCain, R-Arizona, took issue with President Barack Obama‘s suggestion that no one would lose his or her job over the incident. Neither called specifically for someone to be fired, and they did not name who should be disciplined.

According to Detroit News, Lieberman pointed to breakdowns at the State Department and the National Counterterrorism Centre, where he said people failed to act, to identify as a threat the suspected bomber, a young Nigerian, and revoke his visa.