Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

A Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner using a bomb in his underwear wants a new legal adviser, preferably a Muslim. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO'-mahr fah-ROOK' ahb-DOOL'-moo-TAH'-lahb) asks a Detroit federal judge to dismiss his standby counsel, Anthony Chambers. Abdulmutallab says their relationship is strained. He's been acting as his own lawyer, but Chambers was appointed to assist him. Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty in October to attempting to bring down a Christmas 2009 Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight with 290 people aboard.

DETROIT - A Nigerian man who was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner using a bomb sewn into his underwear on Christmas Day 2009 has appealed the punishment. A notice of appeal by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was dated Thursday and posted yesterday in the electronic court record for US court in Detroit, where he was sentenced. Abdulmutallab, 25, pleaded guilty four months ago to all charges in the attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Had the bomb not fizzled, about 300 people on the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight probably would have been killed.

DETROIT — A judge yesterday set an Oct. 4 trial date for a Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009 using a bomb hidden in his underwear. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is acting as his own lawyer, asked for a 2012 date and said he might not have enough time to prepare. But US District Judge Nancy Edmunds said a fall trial was best for now. “We need to move this case along,’’ she said. Abdulmutallab is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring with others to kill 281 passengers and 11...

DETROIT — A Nigerian man on a suicide mission for Al Qaeda was sentenced today to life in prison for attempting to blow up an international flight with a bomb in his underwear as the plane approached Detroit on Christmas 2009. The mandatory punishment for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the well-educated son of a wealthy banker, was never in doubt after he surprised the courtroom and pleaded guilty to all charges on the second day of trial last fall. Abdulmutallab sat with his hands folded under his chin, leaning back in his chair as the sentence was announced.

DETROIT - Incriminating statements by a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a plane traveling to Detroit on Christmas 2009 can be used against him at trial, a judge said yesterday. The decision bolsters the case against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with trying to destroy an aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Detroit using a bomb concealed in his underwear. Abdulmutallab, 24, was not told he had the Miranda right to remain silent when the FBI interviewed him at the University of Michigan hospital where he was being treated for serious burns after the incident.

DETROIT - A Nigerian man who was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner using a bomb sewn into his underwear on Christmas Day 2009 has appealed the punishment. A notice of appeal by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was dated Thursday and posted yesterday in the electronic court record for US court in Detroit, where he was sentenced. Abdulmutallab, 25, pleaded guilty four months ago to all charges in the attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Had the bomb not fizzled, about 300 people on the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight probably would have been...

DETROIT - Moments before he attempted to bring down an American jetliner, a young Nigerian man on a mission for Al Qaeda retreated to the plane's lavatory for a long cleansing ritual to prepare for death, prosecutors told jurors yesterday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab prayed, washed himself, brushed his teeth, and put on perfume, then returned to his seat and tried to detonate a bomb in his underwear, Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Tukel said in his opening statement at the start of the man's trial.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Ten terrorism suspects arrested in Malaysia allegedly have ties to a Nigerian suspected in the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a US airliner, a news report said yesterday. Malaysia’s home minister announced the arrests Wednesday, saying they were mainly foreigners linked to an international terrorist network. They include four men from Syria, two from Nigeria, and one each from Yemen and Jordan, said Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, head of a rights group that assists people held under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has approved $150 million in military assistance to Yemen, the country where Al Qaeda-linked militants planned the failed Christmas Day airliner attack over Detroit. Administration officials said the money was approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates Friday and is more than double the amount of aid the US gave to Yemen last year. It will pay for military equipment and training for Yemeni forces. The total is a sizable chunk of the $350 million that the Pentagon will dole out to allies this year, underscoring the significant terrorist threat...

DETROIT — A lawyer advising a Nigerian man who is accused of trying to use explosives in his underwear to blow up an international flight will get access to the evidence, a judge ruled yesterday over the defendant’s objections. The 15-minute hearing was the first since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab sacked his four-lawyer defense team last month and said he wanted to represent himself on charges stemming from the attempted Christmas Day attack. He said it wasn’t necessary for his standby counsel, Anthony Chambers, to look at the evidence.

A Nigerian man who was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner using a bomb sewn into his underwear on Christmas Day 2009 has appealed the punishment. A notice of appeal by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was dated Thursday and posted Friday in the electronic court record for federal court in Detroit, where he was given the sentence. An email seeking comment was sent Friday to a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit. Abdulmutallab, 25, pleaded guilty four months ago to all charges related to the attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight...

DETROIT - The Nigerian man who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives concealed in his underwear on Christmas Day in 2009 was sentenced yesterday to life in prison by a federal judge who said his crime and subsequent lack of remorse demanded the maximum possible punishment. The man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pleaded guilty in October and admitted to working on behalf of Al Qaeda, shouted, "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," five times during the sentencing hearing.

A Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner using a bomb in his underwear wants a new legal adviser, preferably a Muslim. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO'-mahr fah-ROOK' ahb-DOOL'-moo-TAH'-lahb) asks a Detroit federal judge to dismiss his standby counsel, Anthony Chambers. Abdulmutallab says their relationship is strained. He's been acting as his own lawyer, but Chambers was appointed to assist him. Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty in October to attempting to bring down a Christmas 2009 Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight with 290 people...

DETROIT - The trial of a man accused of trying to blow up a commercial airliner with a bomb sewed into his underwear ended yesterday, just a day after it had begun, when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused, announced that he would plead guilty to all of the federal counts against him. Prosecutors and federal agents seemed stunned, if pleased, and declared that the plea was evidence that the US court system, as opposed to a military tribunal, could...

DETROIT - Moments before he attempted to bring down an American jetliner, a young Nigerian man on a mission for Al Qaeda retreated to the plane's lavatory for a long cleansing ritual to prepare for death, prosecutors told jurors yesterday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab prayed, washed himself, brushed his teeth, and put on perfume, then returned to his seat and tried to detonate a bomb in his underwear, Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Tukel said in his opening statement at the start of the man's trial.

DETROIT - A Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear made a defiant political outburst yesterday, demonstrating again why his courtroom behavior will be closely watched throughout the trial at which he's representing himself. "The mujahadeen will wipe out the US - the cancer US," said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, scowling as he referred to Muslim guerrilla fighters. When marshals removed his handcuffs, he also said that a radical Muslim cleric killed last week by the US military is still alive.

LONDON - Britain raised its terror threat alert to the second-highest level yesterday, one of several recent moves the country has made to increase vigilance against international terrorists after a Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Europe-US flight. The threat level was raised from “substantial’’ - where it had stood since July to indicate a strong possibility of a terrorist attack - to “severe,’’ meaning such an attack is considered highly likely. In making the announcement, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the raised security level means that Britain is heightening...

DETROIT - A federal judge ruled yesterday that a competency hearing is not necessary for a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner, denying a request from the man she hired to help the defendant. US District Judge Nancy Edmunds said in a Detroit courtroom that she believes Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is competent as an Oct. 4 trial date approaches. The hearing was requested by Anthony Chambers, a defense attorney Edmunds brought on to assist Abdulmutallab after the defendant dismissed his court-appointed lawyers last year and opted to...

Delta Air Lines said federal officials detained a man who became disruptive on an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight on Tuesday. Airline spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the man "was quickly restrained" and taken into custody when Flight 235 landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport about 4 p.m. Her statement didn't describe how the man was disruptive, how he was restrained or who restrained him. Michael Patrick Shiels, the broadcast host of...

DETROIT - Incriminating statements by a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a plane traveling to Detroit on Christmas 2009 can be used against him at trial, a judge said yesterday. The decision bolsters the case against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with trying to destroy an aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Detroit using a bomb concealed in his underwear. Abdulmutallab, 24, was not told he had the Miranda right to remain silent when the FBI interviewed him at the University of Michigan hospital where he was being treated for serious burns after the incident.