DETROIT (AP) — A Nigerian man pleaded
guilty Wednesday to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his
underwear, defiantly telling a federal judge that he acted in retaliation for
the killing of Muslims worldwide and referring to the failed explosive as a
"blessed weapon."
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who
acknowledged working for al-Qaida and never denied the allegations, entered the
plea against his attorney's advice on the second day of his trial. He stands to
get a mandatory life sentence for the 2009 attack that aimed to kill nearly 300
people on Christmas Day in the skies above Detroit.
Abdulmutallab calmly answered the
judge's questions and read a political statement warning that if the United
States continues "to persist and promote the blasphemy of Muhammad and the
prophets," it risks "a great calamity ... through the hands of the
mujahedeen soon."
"If you laugh at us now, we will
laugh at you later on the day of judgment," he said.
Abdulmutallab suggested more than a
year ago that he wanted to plead guilty but never did. He dropped his
four-person, publicly financed defense team in favor of representing himself
with help from a prominent local lawyer appointed by the court, Anthony
Chambers.
In an interview, Chambers said
Abdulmutallab privately renewed his interest in a guilty plea Tuesday before
the start of the trial. But it did not happen immediately because the defendant
was not prepared to go through the lengthy required question-and-answer session
with the judge.
When the two met again Wednesday
morning, Abdulmutallab was ready, Chambers said.
Prosecutors were aware of a possible
plea, but there were no negotiations. Abdulmutallab had "no interest"
in speaking to prosecutors, Chambers said, and was unlikely to get any benefit
at this stage of the case.
"It was too late. We were ready
to go," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said.
Chambers wanted to go to trial to
raise doubts about just how powerful the explosive was. And if Abdulmutallab
were convicted, there was also a possible appeal involving the lack of a
Miranda warning before a crucial FBI interview.
"I know he prayed about it and
came to what he believed was the right decision," Chambers said. "I
don't think there was anything done (at trial) that made him say, 'This is a
done deal. I have to take a plea.' It was a personal decision."
Passenger Lori Haskell of Newport,
Mich., watched the plea by video from a room near the court. She called
Abdulmutallab's statement "chilling" but not surprising.
"I'm just really relieved that
it's done with," she said.
The Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight was
just moments from landing when Abdulmutallab tried to detonate the bomb in his
pants. It failed to go off, but his clothes caught fire, and passengers jumped
on him when they saw smoke and flame.
The evidence was stacked high.
The government said Abdulmutallab
willingly explained the plot twice, first to U.S. border officers who took him
off the plane and then in more detail to FBI agents who interviewed him at a hospital
after he was treated for burns to his groin.
There were also photos of his
scorched shorts, video of Abdulmutallab explaining his suicide mission before
departing for the U.S. and scores of passengers who could have been called as
eyewitnesses.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the
plea "removes any doubt that our courts are one of the most effective
tools we have to fight terrorism," referring to a long-running debate over
whether suspects such as Abdulmutallab should be tried in civilian or military
courtrooms.
"We will let results, not
rhetoric, guide our actions," Holder said.
Dimitrios Bessis of Harrison County,
Ga., sat two rows behind Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 and
used his hat to beat out the flames. He said his trip to Detroit to serve as a
potential witness was his first plane ride since the attempted attack.
"He put terror in children's
eyes, in mother's hearts," Bessis said. "I've seen men freeze from
shock on the plane. It was a horrible experience. I have nightmares from
it."
A woman who sat six rows in front of
Abdulmutallab on the plane, said the guilty plea provided her with
"relief."
"It was disheartening and
sickening, however, to listen to Abdulmutallab explain why he feels his actions
were justified," Hebba Aref, a Detroit-area native, wrote in an email to
The Associated Press.
"As a Muslim myself, I know that
he has a completely erroneous and distorted interpretation of the Quran."
Abdulmutallab, the well-educated son
of a wealthy banker, told investigators he trained in Yemen, which is home base
for Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. He said he targeted a U.S.-bound flight
at the urging of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical, American-born Muslim cleric
recently killed by the U.S. military in Yemen.
In court, he sometimes appeared
agitated, declaring that Osama bin Laden and al-Awlaki were still alive. He
also objected to trial testimony from experts who would have discussed al-Qaida
and martyrdom.
Abdulmutallab, who told the judge he
is 25, pleaded guilty to all eight charges, including conspiracy to commit
terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He is scheduled to
be sentenced Jan. 12.
When Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan
Tukel asked if he was carrying a bomb, Abdulmutallab replied: "If you say
so." He said he was "guilty of U.S. law but not in the Quran."
The case had lasting implications for
security screening at American airports.
Abdulmutallab's ability to defeat
security in Amsterdam contributed to the deployment of full-body scanners at
U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration was using the
scanners in some American cities at the time, but the attack accelerated their
placement.
There are now nearly 500 devices
nationwide.
Passenger Alain Ghonda of Silver
Spring, Md., said he came to court Wednesday "to see the man who tried to
kill me." He took some comfort in knowing Abdulmutallab would be locked up
for many years.
"At least he will be going away
for hopefully forever and not be able to harm other people," he said.
Associated Press writers David Runk
and Jeff Karoub in Detroit and Matt Apuzzo in Washington contributed to this
report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Service, File)
