Underwear bomber 'sought martyrdom' in plot to down airliner, court told

DETROIT // A young Nigerian man who hid explosives in his underwear aimed to kill nearly 300 people aboard a US-bound airliner in December 2009 so he could achieve martyrdom, US prosecutors said yesterday.

"All of those passengers had plans to be somewhere. All except one: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab," US federal prosecutor Jonathan Tukel said in opening statement.

"He had no plans. He had a mission for Al Qaeda. His mission, his goal, his sole reason for being on flight 253 was to blow it up.

"He thought by doing that he would end up somewhere else. He thought he would end up in heaven because he would be a martyr."

The plot failed because the explosives stitched into his underwear failed to fully detonate and instead caused a massive fireball.

That fireball could have been deadly but for the swift actions of passengers and crew members who rushed over to put it out as panic and pandemonium broke out on the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam as it prepared to land in Detroit, Mr Tukel said.

The botched operation triggered global alarm and led the United States to adopt stringent new screening and security measures, including controversial pat-downs at airports and a massive expansion of the no-fly list.

The reputation of the nation's intelligence services also took a hit because Mr Abdulmutallab's father, a prominent Nigerian banker, had warned the CIA about his son's growing Islamic radicalisation.

The closely watched trial in Detroit comes two weeks after the killing of the Al Qaeda preacher Anwar Al Awlaqi in a US air raid in Yemen. US intelligence officials have repeatedly linked the US-born Al Awlaqi to the 25 December plot.

Mr Tukel said Mr Abdulmutallab, 24, was inspired by Al Awlaqi's videos to abandon his comfortable life at a Dubai graduate school and seek "violent jihad" in Yemen.

Jurors were shown images from a martyrdom video Mr Abdulmutallab allegedly recorded in Yemen before heading to Amsterdam to board the flight.

Mr Tukel said more damning evidence came from Mr Abdulmutallab himself after he told everyone he came into contact with that he was working with Al Qaeda and aimed to blow up the plane over US soil.

Mr Abdulmutallab, 24, has fired his attorneys and insisted on representing himself. Mr Abdulmutallab declined to make an opening statement yesterday. He faces life in prison if convicted on eight terrorism-related charges.