DETROIT — A Nigerian student accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives hidden in his underwear on Christmas Day 2009 pleaded guilty Wednesday.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, was accused of trying to kill nearly 300 people aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
He faced charges including conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism and attempted murder inside an aircraft.
Asked Wednesday by District Judge Nancy Edmunds whether he understood his rights and whether he wished to plead guilty, Abdulmutallab said, “Yes.”
He then replied, “I plead guilty,” as each count against him was read in a Detroit courtroom, FOX News Channel reported.
Abdulmutallab, who was officially representing himself, faces a likely life sentence when he appears for sentencing Jan. 12, 2012.
After entering his pleas, Abdulmutallab made a statement saying he made the decision to carry out the attempted bombing in fulfillment of jihad. He said the planned attack was meant as retaliation for the United States’ support of Israel and killing of Muslims in the Middle East.
Abdulmutallab also issued a warning to the US, saying, “If you laugh at us now, we will laugh at you later.”
And as he left the courtroom following Wednesday’s hearing, he shouted “Allahu Akbar (God is great).”
Abdulmutallab’s abrupt guilty plea came on the second day of his trial — one of the highest-profile terror cases in the US since 9/11.
It also came after the defendant and his court-appointed standby attorney, Anthony Chambers, had painstakingly whittled down the pool of prospective jurors ahead of the trial, making challenges to the selection process and raising concerns that many potential jurors believed Abdulmutallab was guilty because of the nature of the charges and media attention.