Christmas would-be bomber officially indicted in US
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A Nigerian who attempted to set off an explosive device attached to his body on a U.S. international flight on Christmas Day was officially indicted on Wednesday on charges of attempted murder and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
A U.S. grand jury in the state of Michigan accused the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, of six counts for his failed bombing attempt on a Delta/Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan on Dec. 25, 2009.
Other counts include willfully attempting to destroy and wreck an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, willfully placing a destructive device in, upon and in proximity to an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, and possessing firearm/destructive in furtherance of a crime of violence.
A detention hearing was scheduled to be held on Friday in Detroit.
During the investigation, the suspect admitted that he had received the explosive device and training from al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, which has claimed responsibility for the plot.
When boarding the flight, he hid the bomb in his clothing, which was proved containing powerful explosive Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) and Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), according to the indictment.
However, the bomb was not ignited and Abdulmutallab was subdued by passengers and crew on the plane.
