DETROIT (AP) — The man accused of trying to destroy an airliner on behalf of al-Qaida has entered a Detroit courtroom for the first day of trial.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO’-mahr fah-ROOK’ ahb-DOOL’-moo-TAH’-lahb) said nothing Tuesday as he settled into his seat next to defense attorney Anthony Chambers. He faces life in prison if convicted of trying to bring down an Amsterdam-to-Detroit plane with a bomb in his underwear on Christmas 2009.
Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds asked a Detroit-area attorney to leave the courtroom before opening statements were to begin because he could be called as a witness for Abdulmutallab. Kurt Haskell was a passenger on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
The judge also denied a defense request to prevent prosecutors from using the word “bomb.” She then called a brief recess.
