Underpants bomber admits his attack on flight was for al-Qaida

The admission by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab took a federal court in Detroit by surprise yesterday, as he pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial. He will be sentenced January 12.

Abdulmutallab was questioned by US District Judge Nancy Edmunds to determine if he were changing his plea voluntarily before admitting all eight charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

He then told the courtroom that the bomb was a “blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims”.

“I intended to wreck a US aircraft for the US wreckage of Muslim lands and property,” Abdulmutallab said.

And he added: “The United States should be warned that if they continue to persist and promote the blasphemy of Mohammed and the prophets... the United States should await a great calamity that will befall them through the hands of the mujahedeen soon.”

Abdulmutallab, 25, said he carried a bomb onto Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in his underwear on Christmas 2009 with the intention of killing the nearly 300 people. The bomb didn’t work, however, and passengers jumped on him when they saw smoke and fire.

Abdulmutallab told FBI agents he was working for al-Qaida and directed by Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical, American-born Muslim cleric recently killed by the US in Yemen. There were also photos of his scorched shorts, as well as video of Abdulmutallab explaining his suicide mission before departing for the US

Passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 testified he took a long bathroom break an hour before the aircraft was due to land, which prosecutors claimed was him cleansing in preparation for martyrdom.

In September 2010, Abdulmutallab suggested he wanted to plead guilty to some charges. But he didn’t and instead dropped his four-lawyer, publicly-financed defence team and decided to represent himself.

His lawyers said they had talked to prosecutors about a possible plea deal and Abdulmutallab asked the judge what he needed to do to plead guilty to some charges but nothing happened and a trial was set.

Abdulmutallab had written a few court filings in his own hand, including a request to be judged by Islamic law. He at times appeared agitated in court, declaring that Osama bin Laden and al-Awlaki were alive. He also objected to trial testimony from experts who would have discussed al-Qaida and martyrdom.

Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Tukel said the son of a wealthy Nigerian banker believed his calling that day was martyrdom.

“He was preparing to die and enter heaven,” Mr Tukel said. “He purified himself. He washed. He brushed his teeth. He put on perfume.” After returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab pushed a syringe plunger into the chemical bomb, an action that produced a loud “pop”, then flames and smoke, the prosecutor said.

“Then all hell broke loose. While the fireball was on him, the defendant sat there. He didn’t move. He was expressionless. He was completely blank,” Mr Tukel said.

The government says Abdulmutallab explained the plot twice, first to US border officers who took him off the aircraft and then in more detail to FBI agents who interviewed him at a hospital, following treatment for serious burns to his groin.

Abdulmutallab told authorities he trained in Yemen.