Bomb Sentence

A Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a US-bound flight on Christmas Day 2009 could receive a life sentence from a court in Detroit. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up a commercial plane as a would-be suicide mission for al-Qaeda.

Abdulmutallab was badly burned when a bomb sewn into his underwear failed to detonate fully, prosecutors said.

Almost 300 people were on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. The son of a Nigerian banker, Abdulmutallab faced eight counts against him, including terrorism and attempted murder.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a militant group based in Yemen, said it was behind the attempted attack. Ahead of the sentencing, assistant defence lawyer Anthony Chambers argued that a life sentence for Abdulmutallab would be unconstitutional, since no other passengers were hurt.

Sentencing guidelines direct the judge to impose a mandatory life sentence, but Chambers appealed for a lighter term.

"Not one passenger lost his or her life. Not one passenger suffered life-threatening injuries," he said.

Prosecutors say a life sentence is warranted because an attempted terror attack heightens public fear and burdens airports with expensive and time-consuming security procedures.

Abdulmutallab and some of the passengers aboard the Detroit-bound flight are expected to make statements at the hearing. Shama Chopra, 56, a passenger on the flight, says she has felt bolder and stronger since surviving the flight.

"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 unexpectedly declared that he would plead guilty to all charges. The bomb was a "blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims", he told the court.

"The US should be warned that if they continue to kill and support those who kill innocent Muslims, then the US should await a great calamity... or God will strike them directly," he added.

Investigators said Abdulmutallab admitted he was working for AQAP, and had been inspired by and had met Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who was killed in 2011 by a US drone strike in Yemen.

Abdulmutallab received the bomb, as well as training, from AQAP before travelling from Nigeria to Amsterdam.

There he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit, which was carrying 279 passengers and 11 crew members.

The bomb was not picked up in security checks at airports in Lagos and Amsterdam.

On board, the bomb failed to detonate completely and passengers had to put out the fire.

Abdulmutallab's father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, an influential banker who is well connected in Nigerian politics, said he had approached the US embassy officials and Nigerian authorities in 2009 to warn them about his son.

Abdulmutallab was already on a US watch list, but not a no-fly list.