Christmas terror accused in US court
A young Nigerian man, wearing a white T-shirt and trainers, made his first public court appearance in Detroit tonight to face charges of trying to ignite a chemical-laden explosive on a US airliner on Christmas Day.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab gave a one word answer – “yes” – when asked whether he understood the charges against him.
Judge Mark Randon entered a not guilty plea for the 23-year-old, who could face up to life in prison on the most serious charge – attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Authorities say the young Nigerian with al Qaida links was travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit when he tried to destroy the Northwest Airlines plane carrying nearly 300 people by injecting chemicals into a package of explosives concealed in his underwear. The failed attack caused popping sounds and flames which passengers and crew rushed to extinguish.
During his appearance in court lasting less than five minutes, Abdulmutallab stood at the podium along with Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Tukel and defence attorney Miriam Siefer and answered a few questions in English from the judge.
The longest answer came when the judge asked if he had taken any drugs or alcohol in past 24 hours. Abdulmutallab answered: “Some pain pills.”
Siefer then said he was competent to understand the proceedings. Abdulmutallab, who is being held at a federal prison in Milan, Michigan, had been treated at a hospital for burns after the attack.
His attorneys then waived the reading of the indictment, and Randon entered the not guilty plea. It is routine practice in federal court for the defendant to allow the judge to enter a plea on his behalf rather than say anything himself.
President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, has said Abdulmutallab would be offered a plea deal in exchange for valuable information about his contacts in Yemen and elsewhere.
After the hearing, one of Abdulmutallab’s attorneys, Leroy Soles, declined to talk about the case.
“It’s just too soon in the process to make any comment,” Soles said.
At least one passenger from Flight 253 attended today’s hearing. Hebba Aref, a Detroit area native now working as a corporate lawyer in Kuwait, said she sat six rows in front of Abdulmutallab on the plane.
Aref, who drew international attention last year after being refused a seat directly behind then-Presidential candidate Obama at a Detroit rally because she was wearing a headscarf, said she came today because Abdulmutallab “changed my life.”
“I just wanted to see him again,” the 27-year-old told reporters outside the courtroom following the hearing. “It’s a historic moment, and I want to be part of it.”
Obama considers the Christmas attack an attempted strike against the United States by an affiliate of al Qaida. But he also has said the government had information that could have stopped Abdulmutallab, but intelligence agencies failed to connect the dots.
US investigators have said Abdulmutallab told them he received training and instructions from al Qaida operatives in Yemen. His father warned the US Embassy in Nigeria that his son had drifted into extremism in Yemen, but that threat was never fully digested by the US security apparatus.
