'Detroit bomber' pleads not guilty
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A Nigerian man who was accused of attempting to blow up a U.S. international flight with an explosive device pleaded not guilty at a court in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday.
During the detention hearing, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's lawyers pleaded not guilty on behalf of him.
According to local media, the 23-year-old man confirmed his name, age and that he had read the indictment against him, but remained mute to the charges.
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Arab-Americans hold signs saying 'Islam Is Against Terrorism' as they demonstrate outside the Federal court building in Detroit, Michigan Jan. 8, 2010, during a hearing for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year old Nigerian accused of attempting to blow up a Detroit bound jetliner. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
The suspect shocked the United States by bringing the explosive to a Delta/Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Detroit and trying to set it off on Christmas Day.
He has been accused of six accounts including attempted murder and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
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This courtroom drawing shows accused Christmas Day Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (L) with his defense attorney Miriam Siefer in Federal court in Detroit, Michigan. Jan. 8, 2010. A federal judge on Friday entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused of an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner that has prompted a sweeping review of U.S. security procedures. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Other counts include willfully attempting to destroy and wreck an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, willing fully placing a destructive device in, upon and in proximity to an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, and possessing firearm/destructive in furtherance of a crime of violence.
During the investigation, the suspect admitted that he received the explosive device and training from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, which has also claimed responsibility for the plot.
