He was going to get seven years of Sharia study in Yemen for free. Who was paying? "U.S. plane bomber wanted to study sharia in Yemen," from [1] Reuters, December 29 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a U.S. airliner told his parents he wanted to study Islamic sharia law in Yemen shortly before cutting off contact with them, the Nigerian government said on Tuesday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, had been studying for a masters degree in Dubai when he told his parents he was going to Yemen to study Arabic for a few weeks, Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters in the capital Abuja.

"After a few weeks he now sent a message to the parents that he wanted to stay back and study sharia for seven years and the father said no, you can't do that," Akunyili said.

"The father said they were not ready to send him school fees or money for upkeep, that he should go back to Dubai and complete his masters. (But Abdulmutallab) said he was going to get everything free," she said....

"(This report) confirms what we have been saying, that the boy did not have backing from here," Akunyili said.

"The boy was not enlisted in Nigeria, was not trained in Nigeria, was not supported by Nigerians, not even by his parents," Akunyili said....