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Underwear bomber`s trial to begin in Detroit
Jury selection was to start today in the high stakes trial of a young African, accused of trying to bring down an airliner with a bomb in his underwear.
Detroit: Jury selection was to start today in
the high stakes trial of a young African, accused of trying to bring down an airliner with a bomb in his underwear.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab`s failed attack was the first act of terrorism in the US, during the Obama administration, and it could have implications in the debate over whether terrorism suspects should be tried in civilian or military courts.
The case also revealed the rise of a dangerous al-Qaeda affiliate and the growing influence of a radical Islamic cleric who was killed by a CIA-US military strike only last week. Abdulmutallab, a well-educated Nigerian from an upper-class family who has pleaded not guilty, was directed by American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and said he wanted to become a martyr on Christmas 2009, when he boarded Detroit- bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam, according to the government.
Prosecutors have Abdulmutallab`s hospital-bed confession, dozens of witnesses, remnants of the explosive and an al-Qaeda video featuring the 24-year-old explaining his suicide mission.
A conviction on multiple charges could bolster the argument that suspected terrorists should be prosecuted through civilian courts, not military proceedings.
Full-throated bipartisan opposition forced the Obama administration to cancel a New York trial for professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, although there have been no similar issues in Detroit.
"Convictions that are achieved in federal court using proper procedures will be upheld on appeal. That`s simply too powerful a tool for the president not to use," said Vijay Padmanabhan, a former State Department lawyer who handled cases involving terror-related detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"What people will be looking to see is whether the administration can bring what appears be a fairly straight forward case to fruition," Padmanabhan said.
Abdulmutallab faces eight charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. The government says he wanted to blow up the plane by detonating chemicals in his underwear, just seven minutes before the jet carrying 279 passengers and a crew of 11 was to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
But the bomb didn`t work. Passengers assisted by crew members saw flames and pounced on Abdulmutallab.
PTI
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab`s failed attack was the first act of terrorism in the US, during the Obama administration, and it could have implications in the debate over whether terrorism suspects should be tried in civilian or military courts.
The case also revealed the rise of a dangerous al-Qaeda affiliate and the growing influence of a radical Islamic cleric who was killed by a CIA-US military strike only last week. Abdulmutallab, a well-educated Nigerian from an upper-class family who has pleaded not guilty, was directed by American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and said he wanted to become a martyr on Christmas 2009, when he boarded Detroit- bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam, according to the government.
Prosecutors have Abdulmutallab`s hospital-bed confession, dozens of witnesses, remnants of the explosive and an al-Qaeda video featuring the 24-year-old explaining his suicide mission.
A conviction on multiple charges could bolster the argument that suspected terrorists should be prosecuted through civilian courts, not military proceedings.
Full-throated bipartisan opposition forced the Obama administration to cancel a New York trial for professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, although there have been no similar issues in Detroit.
"Convictions that are achieved in federal court using proper procedures will be upheld on appeal. That`s simply too powerful a tool for the president not to use," said Vijay Padmanabhan, a former State Department lawyer who handled cases involving terror-related detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"What people will be looking to see is whether the administration can bring what appears be a fairly straight forward case to fruition," Padmanabhan said.
Abdulmutallab faces eight charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. The government says he wanted to blow up the plane by detonating chemicals in his underwear, just seven minutes before the jet carrying 279 passengers and a crew of 11 was to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
But the bomb didn`t work. Passengers assisted by crew members saw flames and pounced on Abdulmutallab.
PTI