Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pleaded not guilty in January to trying to blow up a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day, said his lawyers were not serving his best interests and asked a judge to let him represent himself.

"If I want to plead guilty to some counts, how would that work?" Abdulmutallab asked US District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds.

Edmunds strongly urged him not to fire his lawyers but agreed to allow Abdulmutallab's request and will appoint new lawyers to act as consultants to him. She told him they would be able to answer questions about his plea.

Abdulmutallab, originally from Nigeria, boarded a Northwest Airlines jumbo jet flight from Amsterdam to Detroit and near the end of the trip he tried to ignite a bomb sewn into his underwear, prosecutors said.

They said it failed to fully detonate and he was subdued by the passengers and crew and the fire was contained.

He was subsequently charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and four other offenses, charges that could lead to life in prison if convicted.

He had been cooperating with US investigators for several months and told them that he received the device and training from Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen.

"I prefer to represent myself," he told the judge, adding that, "I feel any representation I have, there will always be a conflict of interest." He told Edmunds he had not studied law and had never represented himself in a criminal case. He also said he was not familiar with the federal rules of evidence and was somewhat familiar with criminal procedure.