January 8, 2010
The Nigerian terror suspect accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day will make his first court appearance in Detroit Friday.
The arraignment comes a day after US president Barack Obama vowed sweeping and costly new measures to fix the intelligence flaws exposed by the Al-Qaeda attack.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on six counts arising from the botched plot to blow up an airliner packed with 290 passengers and crew flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The charges included attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction aboard a US plane.
Obama blamed US spy agencies for failing to properly connect and analyze signs that an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen was planning the attack.
Abdulmutallab was badly burned when the explosive he hid in his underwear caught fire but failed to blow up as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 began its descent into Detroit.
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Fellow passengers subdued him and the crew was able to put the fire out before much damage had been done.
He spent several days in hospital before being transferred to a federal detention facility in Milan, Michigan.
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