US lawmaker: Yemen is a hot spot

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The attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day is refocusing US lawmakers’ attention on Yemen.

The 23-year-old suspect in the botched attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab of Nigeria, allegedly told U.S. officials that he received his explosive device in Yemen and learned to use it there.

“Yemen is a hot spot. We need to do everything we can to work with that government,” Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

U.S. officials have been investigating a Yemen link in the Nov. 5, mass shooting at an U.S. Army post in Fort Hood, Texas. U.S. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly killed 13 people, had exchanged dozens of emails with U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to be residing in Yemen.

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