US President Barack Obama says a preliminary investigation into the Nigerian man who tried to bomb a US plane on Christmas Day has revealed he is a member of al-Qaeda and was trained by the terrorist group.

President Obama has called for an inquiry into why security services failed to prevent the man from boarding the Northwest Airlines plane. The 25-year-old Nigerian boarded flight 253 at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. He tried to set off explosives attached to his legs shortly before the plane was due to land in Detroit. The explosives failed to go off and the man was overpowered by a Dutch passenger.

Four days later the attack was claimed by the Saudi branch of al-Qaeda. President Obama says he wants to work closely with Yemen to combat terrorism. The Nigerian bomber has confirmed al-Qaeda is using Yemen to train militants. President Obama is to meet with the heads of several intelligence services to discuss ways of preventing future attacks.

Delta Northwest Airlines planes (Photo: EPA)