The Nigerian man who allegedly attempted to detonate an explosive on a US bound flight on Christmas Day was indicted yesterday on six criminal charges, including attempted murder, SkyNews reported this morning.
The US Justice Department announced last night that a US Grand Jury in Michigan indicted 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on, among others, charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a sentence of life in prison; the attempted murders of the 279 passengers and the 11 crewmembers on board; and the attempted destruction of an aircraft.
According to the Justice Department, Abdulmutallab allegedly boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam on Christmas Eve, carrying a bomb concealed in his underwear. While the aircraft made its approach into Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate the explosive – a mixture of highly explosive PETN and TATP – but succeeded only in starting a small fire at his seat. He was subdued by his fellow passengers and crew members; once the plane landed, he was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection and transported to University of Michigan Medical Center for medical treatment.
Abdulmutallab has been held in a Michigan prison since and yesterday, an Eastern District of Michigan court returned his indictment.
“The charges that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab faces could imprison him for life,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement released on the Justice Department’s website. “This investigation is fast-paced, global and ongoing, and it has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads. Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool – military or judicial – available to our government.”
Barbara L. McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, which is handling the prosecution of the case, said, “The attempted murder of 289 innocent people merits the most serious charges available, and that’s what we have charged in this indictment.”
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