accused of trying to bring down an
international jetliner with a bomb in his
underwear walked into the start of his
federal trial Tuesday and declared that a
radical Islamic cleric killed by the U.S. military
is alive.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's outburst came
as jury selection got under way for his
federal terror trial in Detroit, where the 24-
year-old is acting as his own attorney and
has previously told reporters they should
stop reporting that Osama bin Laden was
dead.
"Anwar is alive," Abdulmutallab said
Tuesday, referring to American-born cleric
Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed last week
by a joint CIA-U.S. military air strike in Yemen.
"The mujahadeen will wipe out the U.S. —
the cancer U.S.," he added.
Abdulmutallab, a well-educated Nigerian
from an upper-class family, was directed in
the attack by al-Awlaki and wanted to
become a martyr when he boarded
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam
a Christmas 2009, according to the
government.
Abdulmutallab, who complained loudly at a
previous hearing about having to wear
prison clothes, came into the courtroom
Tuesday wearing an oversized prison T-
shirt. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds
called a brief recess to allow him to change
into clothes more appropriate for court,
after acknowledging and denying his
apparent request to wear a "Yemeni belt
with a dagger."
AP Photo of Abdulmutallab
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