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    October 11, 2011

Trial Opens for Nigerian in Failed US Airliner Attack

   VOA News
   In this courtroom drawing, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (L) appears in
   federal court with Anthony Chambers, a lawyer who is assisting him in
   his defense, in Detroit, October 4, 2011.
   Photo: AP
   In this courtroom drawing, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (L) appears in
   federal court with Anthony Chambers, a lawyer who is assisting him in
   his defense, in Detroit, October 4, 2011.

   The trial of a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a U.S.
   airliner with a bomb hidden in his underwear begins with opening
   statements in a U.S. court on Tuesday.
   Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is representing himself in the trial in the
   U.S. city of Detroit, but he agreed to allow a court-appointed standby
   attorney to deliver the opening statement on his behalf.
   U.S. federal prosecutors are expected to present the jury with a
   stockpile of evidence, including incriminating statements from the
   24-year-old defendant and passengers from the plane who could testify
   against him.
   Abdulmutallab faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit
   terrorism, in connection with the December 25, 2009, incident on a
   flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Passengers and crew members subdued
   him after his explosives caught fire, but failed to detonate, as the
   plane prepared to land, leaving him with burns.
   A key piece of prosecution evidence is a statement that Abdulmutallab
   made to federal agents in a hospital room, admitting he was an al-Qaida
   operative directed by Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. A
   U.S. drone killed the American-born Awlaki in Yemen last month.
   Prosecutors also plan to show the 12 jurors a replica of the explosives
   used in the failed bombing and a video of Abdulmutallab explaining his
   suicide mission before the incident.
   The defense may call as a witness one of the plane's passengers who
   claims the failed bombing is part of a U.S. government conspiracy to
   stage a simulated terrorist attack, in order to justify the wars and
   costly airport scanning machines. The passenger, Kurt Haskell, has said
   he saw a well-dressed man help Abdulmutallab bypass security before
   boarding the flight at Amsterdam's airport. Authorities have discounted
   that theory.
   Abdulmutallab has made several outbursts in pre-trial hearings,
   proclaiming allegiance to al-Qaida, and claiming that slain terrorist
   leader Anwar al-Awlaki actually is still alive.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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