Abdulmutallab Enters Not Guilty Plea in Detroit Hearing

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man accused of attempting to blow up a U.S.-bound flight on Christmas Day, entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment Friday in a federal courtroom in Detroit.

The 23-year-old Nigerian suspect said little during a hearing that lasted less than five minutes. He wore a white T-shirt, tennis shoes and light olive pants, said “yes” in English when asked if understood the charges against him, according to the Associated Press.

The suspect stood at a podium along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel and defense attorney Miriam Siefer and answered several questions from the magistrate judge. When the judge asked if he had taken any drugs or alcohol in past 24 hours, he answered, “some pain pills.” Siefer then said Abdulmutallab was competent to understand the proceedings following his treatment for burns. His attorneys waived the reading of the indictment, and the judge entered not guilty plea enter on his behalf. The suspect was indicted earlier this week by a federal grand jury that charged him with six counts including the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He was [also charged](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_re_us/us_airline_attack) with attempted murder and possession of a firearm. He could face life in prison if found guilty. Authorities charge that Abdulmutallab was traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit when he tried to blow up a plane carrying nearly 300 people on Christmas Day. On Thursday, President Obama accepted responsibility for U.S. intelligence agencies failing to “connect the dots” that led to the al-Qaida-backed terrorism attempt. Ultimately “the buck stops with me,” [the president said](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/01/obama-the-buck-stops-with-me-on-national-security.html). He suggested that no one would be fired for the lapse in security, but did indicate that the scare was caused by a “systemic failure across organizations and agencies.” The Los Angeles Times [reported Thursday](http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-airline-terror7-2010jan07,0,7706989.story) that U.S. border security learned of Abdulmutallab’s connection to al-Qaida while the suspect was in mid-air. They intended to question him when he arrived in Detroit. The 23-year-old Nigerian has also been linked to the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was a person of interest in the November Fort Hood military base rampage. Since the failed bomb plot, the Transportation Security Administration has boosted security in airports throughout the country and seeks to expand the use of full-body scanners, which experts say are more effective than metal detectors. Some argue that this is an invasion of privacy, however. Abdulmutallab is being held at the federal prison in Milan, Mich.