Underwear bomber to get life term

A Detroit federal judge is refusing to set aside a federal law which demands a mandatory life sentence for a Nigerian who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up an international flight bound for Detroit on Christmas 2009.

US District Judge Nancy Edmunds made her decision as the sentencing hearing began for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with a bomb in his underwear. It failed and he was badly burned.

Abdulmutallab’s lawyer claims a life sentence when there was no death or serious injury to passengers is unconstitutional.

Separately, the judge said she would allow the government to show an FBI video demonstrating the power of the explosive chemical possessed by Abdulmutallab.

Alain Ghonda travels the world with heightened awareness after Christmas 2009, when a plane he was on could have been destroyed in mid-air by the terrorist smuggling a bomb in his underwear.

“After having that experience, you do not know who’s sitting next to you,” said the 40-year-old a consultant from Silver Spring, Maryland, who was a passenger on the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight.

“They may look like passengers, but they might want to harm you.”

Abdulmutallab, the privileged son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, was returning to the federal court in Detroit today to be sentenced, four months after pleading guilty and admitting it was a suicide mission for al Qaida.

The hearing is an open platform for passengers and crew who want to speak, but only five of nearly 300 are expected to address the court, according to the government.

Abdulmutallab, 25, tried to detonate explosive chemicals that were hidden in his underwear minutes before the plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The government said he first performed a ritual in the lavatory – brushing his teeth and perfuming himself – and returned to his seat. The device failed to work as planned, but still produced flame, smoke and panic in the cabin.

“I’ve become bolder. I’ve become stronger,” said passenger Shama Chopra, 56, of Montreal, who plans to speak in court. She ran unsuccessfully for the Canadian Parliament in 2011, a race she could not have imagined joining years ago.

“I don’t have to feel weak,” she said. “I don’t have to be scared of anything. God has given me a second chance to live.”

On the second day of his trial in October, Abdulmutallab suddenly pleaded guilty to all charges.

In a defiant speech, he said he was carrying a “blessed weapon” to avenge Muslims who have been killed or poorly treated around the world.

He admitted he was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and leading al Qaida figure in Yemen who was killed by a US drone strike last autumn.

“The Koran obliges every able Muslim to participate in jihad and fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, and kill them wherever you find them... an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” Abdulmutallab said.

Anthony Chambers, a lawyer appointed to assist Abdulmutallab, believes the Nigerian will speak again today but does not know what he will say. He said nine members of Abdulmutallab’s family, including his father, have travelled to Detroit but do not plan to be in court.

Mr Chambers, meanwhile, is urging District Judge Edmunds to declare that a mandatory life sentence is unconstitutional, claiming it is a cruel punishment in a case where no one but Abdulmutallab was physically hurt. His groin was badly burned.

“Not one passenger lost his or her life. Not one passenger suffered life-threatening injuries,” Mr Chambers said.

The government said that is not the threshold.

“Unsuccessful terrorist attacks still engender fear in the broader public, which, after all, is one of their main objectives,” prosecutors said in a court filing.

The case also had lasting implications for security screening at American airports.

Abdulmutallab’s ability to defeat security in Amsterdam contributed to the deployment of full-body scanners at US airports. The Transportation Security Administration was using the scanners in some American cities at the time, but the attack accelerated their placement.

There are now hundreds of the devices nationwide.