Alleged Christmas Day bomber to appear in court

Jan 8, 2010, 16:48 GMT

Washington - A Nigerian man who allegedly tried to ignite explosives aboard a Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit is due in federal court for the first time Friday to hear the charges brought against him.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, faces six criminal charges related to the failed December 25 plot, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, and could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Abdulmutallab was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday in Detroit and will appear for what is expected to be a brief arraignment in the afternoon at the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The court hearing comes as US authorities try to learn the lessons from the failed attack on the Delta/Northwest Airlines flight, which was prevented only because the PETN explosive that Abdulmutallab smuggled on board failed to properly ignite, instead causing a small fire.

An initial inquiry commissioned by President Barack Obama on Thursday found that the intelligence community had 'sufficient information' to stop the attack, which was plotted by the terrorist group al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen.

Obama has sharply criticized his intelligence community for the 'systemic failure' and outlined a series of measures to strengthen intelligence gathering and analysis. He also detailed stepped up airport security measures, including plans for more full-body scanners, baggage searches and flight marshals.