- DETROIT: A Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down an international jetliner with a bomb in his underwear says a radical Islamic cleric killed by the US military is alive.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab made the statement Tuesday morning in a federal courtroom in Detroit, where jury selection began in his terror trial.
Abdulmutallab was referring to American-born cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was killed last week by a US air strike.
Prosecutors say the 24-year-old Abdulmutallab was directed by Al-Awlaki and wanted to become a martyr on Christmas 2009 when he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam.