A Nigerian man dubbed
the ''underwear bomber'' has
pleaded guilty to trying to blow up
a US-bound plane on Christmas Day
2009, saying he had sought to
avenge the killing of Muslims.
In a six-minute speech to a shocked
courtroom on the second day of his
high-profile trial in Detroit, Umar
Farouk Abdulmutallab insisted his
actions were righteous and that the
true crime was US foreign policy.
''I am guilty of this count in US law
but not in the Koran,'' the 25-year-
old Nigerian said as he confessed to
trying to kill 289 people on a
packed trans-Atlantic flight using
explosives hidden in his underwear.
He warned that the US ''should
await a great calamity'' at the
hands of the mujahideen or directly
by God ''if they continue and persist
in promoting the blasphemy of
Mohammed … and the US continues
to kill and support those who kill
innocent Muslims''.
''If you laugh at us now, we will
laugh at you later,'' he said.
The botched plot, which US officials
say was the work of al-Qaeda in
the Arabian Peninsula, failed
because the explosives did not fully
detonate and instead caused a
fireball.
Passengers and crew members
were able to restrain
Abdulmutallab and put out the fire
as the Northwest flight from
Amsterdam made an emergency
landing in Detroit.
The eight terrorism counts to which
he pleaded guilty cumulatively
carry a mandatory sentence of life
in prison without the possibility of
parole.
The botched operation triggered
global alarm and led the US to
introduce stringent new screening
and security measures. The
reputation of the US intelligence
services also took a hit because
Abdulmutallab's father, a
prominent Nigerian banker, had
warned the CIA about his son's
growing radicalisation.
The US Attorney-General, Eric
Holder, hailed the guilty plea for
removing ''any doubt that our
courts are one of the most effective
tools we have to fight terrorism
and keep the American people
safe''.
The head of the FBI's Detroit field
office said the case showed that
civilian law enforcement was the
best way to handle domestic
terrorism cases.
The abrupt end to the trial means
that many questions, including the
degree of involvement of the slain
al-Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaki,
remain unanswered.
Abdulmutallab kept his description
of how he carried out the plot to
the absolute minimum required to
satisfy the judge that he was guilty
of all charges.
Abdulmutallab said he ''had an
agreement with at least one
person'' to attack the US in
retaliation for US support for Israel
and in revenge for the killing of
''innocent'' Muslims in such areas as
Palestine, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and
Afghanistan.
''I attempted to use an explosive
device … which I call a blessed
weapon to save the lives of
innocent Muslims for the US used
weapons of mass destruction on
innocent Muslims,'' Abdulmutallab
told the court.
He will be sentenced on January 12.
p
