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    Nigerian underwear bomber faces life sentence

    DETROIT (AP) — At least five passengers were expected to speak Thursday at the sentencing of a Nigerian man who admits trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner at Christmas 2009.

    Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab faces a sentence of life in prison, four months after pleading guilty in U.S. federal court.

    Abdulmutallab, the 25-year-old son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, tried to detonate a bomb in his underwear as the flight from Amsterdam approached Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The device didn't work but caused smoke and flames and badly burned his groin.

    The government says Abdulmutallab was on a suicide mission for al-Qaida.

    During his trial, Abdulmutallab 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 U.S. drone strike last fall.

    "The Quran 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, an attorney appointed to assist Abdulmutallab, believes he will speak again Thursday but doesn't know what he'll say.

    Chambers, meanwhile, is urging the judge 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.

    Passenger Shama Chopra of Montreal said she's become "bolder" and "stronger" since the incident. The 56-year-old ran for Canadian Parliament last year, a feat she could not have imagined years ago.

     

    75 comments

    • JC  •  3 mths ago
      Sweet jeezus. The defense attorney is arguing for a lesser penalty because the attack failed? The outcome of the attack only impacts whether or not premeditated murder would be appended to the charges. The fact remains that this TERRORIST is a THREAT - not a "potential" threat - but a THREAT to the lives of anybody he deems an enemy. And when that determination is made on some twisted, sociopathic interpretation of this pathetic excuse of a religion called Islam - well, Mr. Fruit-of-the-Boom Undie Bomber is the classic example of why these beasts get life without the possibility of parole. (And I wouldn't be opposed to his counsel getting himself some jail time as the guy's cellmate for proposing such a ludicrous defense. Let him see how reformable the guy is.)
      • Just Me, Richard 3 mths ago
        Hey Butt Boy -- The defense [you spell that "defence"] attorney is doing his job, as required by law. To do anything less would not only be unethical, but could result in a mistrial, or in the case being tossed out of court. So what do YOU want?
      • A Yahoo! User 3 mths ago
        The Defense Attorney could have plead the AH Guilty and accept the sentence as being too good for the AH. But what do I want, Death by drowning in pig blood.
    • Jackson  •  Tucson, Arizona  •  3 mths ago
      Anyone with a bomb on one of our aircraft.....they should be executed. Period.
      Send a clear message to the rest of the planet.
    • Bad Bob  •  Milwaukee, Wisconsin  •  3 mths ago
      So...he got his weenie roasted?
    • Hans J.  •  3 mths ago
      "The device didn't work as planned, but still produced flame, smoke and panic in the cabin"
      At least he managed to burn his own balls off. I'm sure that Bubba is looking forward to meet him!
      • More Betta 3 mths ago
        This Koranimal is going to get a very rude and violent introduction to what it means to be violated. All those Goats these Koranimals molest and shag will get justice
    • Bad Bob  •  Milwaukee, Wisconsin  •  3 mths ago
      Give the lawyer a break, he didn't have a lot to work with.
      • Just Me, Richard 3 mths ago
        The American jurisprudence system [flawed as it is] is the greatest in the world. Period. Lawyers are required to use every legal means possible to defend and exhonorate their clients, no matter how guilty they appear. The most obviously heinous serial child murders is "assumed innocent" until proven guilty. When a guilty verdict is reached, unless the system has been tainted, it is iron clad. And you people disdain it? Wait until you are on the receiving end -- when it's your butt in the cross hairs, you'll sing a different tune.
    • John  •  3 mths ago
      Should tie some C-4 around his balls and send him off to the 72 Virgins.
      • Auntie Social 3 mths ago
        Ah, justice mixed with theater, my favorite!!
      • Eric 3 mths ago
        But if they did that, then even if he got his 72 virgins afterwards, he would not be able to do anything with them...
    • health1_au  •  3 mths ago
      Throw that dirtball in a cell and close the door already!
    • Geezer  •  Centro, Mexico  •  3 mths ago
      Now we will have to support him the rest of his life with better living conditions than he had before...
    • DENNIS  •  3 mths ago
      Hands cuffed behind his back, a single stick of dynamite in his underwear with a timed fuse. BOOM!
    • JohnM  •  3 mths ago
      Are we still spending tax and gov't money on this #$%$s trial? I understand about rights/ habeas corpus. etc., etc. ad nauseum, but he tried to blow up a plane. He goes away for good, Done.
    • Calvin D  •  San Francisco, California  •  3 mths ago
      i prefer death sentence
    • Voxpopuli  •  3 mths ago
      "An eye for an eye", he deserves the death penalty, end of discussion !!!
    • KarlaH  •  3 mths ago
      NO SYMPATHY HERE
    • Stephan  •  3 mths ago
      The muslims who wish to live in peace with us, fine...the ones who don't...then terminate them, all of them...before they terminate us.
    • Kevin  •  3 mths ago
      The best gift I got that Christmas Day was that he gave himself 1st and 2nd degree burns to his twig and berries.
    • mb  •  3 mths ago
      No worries, dude, Bubba won't make you wear underwear in jail...
    • Grant  •  Martinez, California  •  3 mths ago
      Inmate: "So, what are you in here for?" Underwear bomber: "Um well I'm the underwear bomber." Inmate: "Ummm, say what? #$%$ is an Underwear bomber?"
    • Stephan  •  3 mths ago
      He should be exterminated...but if not...life, and make sure it's hard labor, something these Islamists normally don't do.
    • Bonzopookie  •  Boston, Massachusetts  •  3 mths ago
      no underwear for you!
    • D.  •  3 mths ago
      That's why we can't let our gard down, even for a minute. There's no depth too low that these idiots won't sink to to try to attack us.
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