News

A 23-year-old Nigerian man who claimed ties to al-Qaida has been charged with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, just a month after his father warned US officials of concerns about his son''s religious beliefs.

The suspect claimed to have received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen, a law enforcement official said on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The Justice Department charged that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab willfully attempted to destroy or wreck an aircraft; and that he placed a destructive device in the plane.

US District Judge Paul Borman read Abdulmutallab the charges in a conference room at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he is being treated for burns.

Two members of the media, Corey Williams from the Associated Press and Peggy Agar of local television station WXYZ, were allowed in the room to report on the reading of the charges.

Speaking to fellow reporters after the hearing Agar said the suspect appeared very young and that he had asked for legal counsel.

The suspect smiled when he was wheeled into the hospital conference room.

He had a bandage on his left thumb and right wrist, and part of the skin on the thumb was burned off, Williams said.

He was wearing a light green hospital robe and blue hospital socks.

The judge sat at the far end of a 10-foot (3-metre) table, the suspect at the other end.

The judge asked Abdulmutallab if he understood the charges against him, to which he responded in English: "Yes, I do."

The judge said the suspect would be assigned a public defender and set a detention hearing for January 8. The hearing lasted 20 minutes.

An affidavit said he had a device containing a high explosive attached to his body.

The affidavit said that as Northwest Flight 253 descended toward Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device, sparking a fire instead of an explosion.

Abdulmutallab claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaida to detonate the plane over US soil, said one US law enforcement official.

But others cautioned that such claims could not be verified immediately.

Travelers were noticing the changes and the resulting delays across the United States, although many seemed to take it in their stride.

One traveler said she still carries personal items in a clear plastic bag from security measures after 9-11 but that on recent flights she hasn''t been asked to offer it for inspection.

Bonnie Russell said she hoped that they would start to ask again.

Abdulmutallab, who had a valid US visa, was on a US terrorism database but not on a no-fly list.

London''s Metropolitan Police also were working with US officials, said a spokeswoman who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.

A search was conducted on Saturday at an apartment building in the West London neighborhood where the suspect is said to have lived.

University College London issued a statement saying a student named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab studied mechanical engineering there between September 2005 and June 2008.

But the college said it wasn''t certain the student was the same person who was on the plane.