Airline bomb suspect’s former teacher describes affable, religious, but inflexible student

Airline suspect teacher: He was friendly and liked

LONDON — The former teacher of a Nigerian man charged with trying to bomb a U.S. airliner says his ex-pupil was a serious student with many Christian friends.

But Michael Rimmer, a Briton who taught history at the British International School in Lome, Togo, says that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab also showed signs of inflexibility, defending the Taliban during a lesson and complaining when Rimmer took classmates to a London pub.

Rimmer tells The Associated Press that Abdulmutallab was well-liked and had such a good reputation that fellow students called him “the Pope.”

In a telephone interview Sunday, Rimmer described his school as a multicultural place where Christians students participated in Islamic feasts and Muslims often sang Christmas carols.