US Grand Jury Indicts Nigerian In Failed Bombing Attempt

PHOTO: UMAR FAROUK ABDUL MUTALLAB.

San Francisco Jan 6, (THEWILL) – A United states grand jury on Wednesday afternoon indicted Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab on six counts charge for attempting to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest airplane on Christmas Day.

The seven-page indictment charges Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction; attempted murder within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States; willful attempt to destroy and wreck an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States; willfully placing a destructive device in, upon and in proximity to an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States; and two counts of possession of a firearm/destructive in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The 23-year-old Umar had started his journey in Nigeria on December 24 when he boarded a KLM flight from Lagos. He told investigators that he acquired the explosive device from Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The indictment said Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab boarded a Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on December 25, carrying a concealed bomb concealed in his clothing. The bomb components included Pentaerythritol (also known as PETN, a high explosive), as well as Triacetone Triperoxide (also known as TATP, a high explosive) and other ingredients.

The indictment said that, just before the flight landed in Detroit, Michigan, "Abdul Mutallab detonated the bomb, causing a fire on board flight 253." The device malfunctioned and did not fully detonate, instead setting off a fire at mutallab’s seat before other passengers and flight crew subdued him.

Abdul Mutallab was arrested when the plane landed and transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center for treatment resulting from wounds from the fire. He was read his rights and charges at the hospital

Judge Nancy Edmunds will be the judge to preside over his trial according to Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District, Michigan.

If convicted, the Nigerian national faces a sentence of life in prison.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday in a Detroit courtroom to determine the arraignment and detention of the Mutallab.

US Attorney General Eric Holder said the investigation "has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads."

Nigeria has already started paying for the unfortunate action of one of theirs. On Sunday the United States government placed her on a terrorist watch list. Nigerian passengers and travellers from Nigeria to the US will henceforth get full body pats and hand luggage search under new security measures announced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). 

See attachment for the full court documents.