According to a number of sources , Al-Awlaki and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25 , 2009 , had contacts . In January 2010 , CNN reported that U.S. " security sources " said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab 's recruiter and one of his trainers , and met with him prior to the attack . In February 2010 , al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in '' al-Jazeera '' that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab , but denied having ordered the attack
Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Anwar al-Awlaki