'Underwear bomber' Abdulmutallab in Detroit trial

| Wednesday October 12, 2011 00:00

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, originally planned to defend himself, but his court-appointed lawyer will instead deliver an opening statement.Abdulmutallab faces a series of charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted, he could face a lifelong prison sentence. The US government says Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate a bomb aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit as it landed Christmas 2009.The bomb, however, did not work and he was badly burned instead.

As the trial got under way, Abdulmutallab's standby lawyer Anthony Chambers requested a ban on the word 'bomb' until the final arguments.Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds denied the request, saying 'it makes no sense whatsoever'. During last week's jury selection  Abdulmutallab alternately questioned potential jurors himself or sat silent as defence lawyer Anthony Chambers interviewed others. 'The goal of the court is to get the best representation so no-one down the road can claim [Abdulmutallab] was railroaded'

The 24-year-old is officially representing himself, after firing a team of four lawyers appointed by the Detroit Federal Defender office last year.Chambers is the 'standby counsel' appointed by a federal judge.He told the Associated Press news agency he had been authorised by Abdulmutallab to deliver the opening statement.Chambers said his client was 'driving the bus' on the ultimate decisions made in the courtroom.'His self-representation certainly makes it more difficult strategically. But we're doing the best we can with what we have to work with.'

Lloyd Meyer, a former terrorism prosecutor at the US justice department, told AP Abdulmutallab giving his own opening statement would have been disastrous for the defence.'He would have stood up in front of a jury and said, 'I wanted to murder my fellow passengers and here's why',' Meyer said.The former student's outbursts in the courtroom have become common.

Last week, he shouted 'Anwar is alive' during jury selection, an apparent reference to Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born al-Qaeda recruiter killed in a drone strike in September.During a pre-trial hearing, Abdulmutallab made similar statements about Osama Bin Laden after his publicised death.'The goal of the court is to get the best representation so no one down the road can claim [Abdulmutallab] was railroaded or forced to assume a responsibility he could not handle,' said David Steingold, a Detroit defence lawyer.