The young Nigerian who allegedly tried to blow up a US airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009, fired his lawyers on Monday saying they would be biased and opted to represent himself. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was arrested on December 25, 2009 after an aborted attempt to ignite explosives hidden in his underwear as his flight from Amsterdam came in to land in Detroit, Michigan.
He appeared in good health on Monday as he quietly entered the courtroom accompanied by US marshals, his hands cuffed behind his back. Dressed in gray-green prison garb, he looked straight ahead, making no eye contact with reporters or observers.
After he spoke briefly with his attorneys, one of them then told the court the suspect wished to act as his own counsel. "I don't feel any representation I get would represent me in a way that is in my best interest," Abdulmutallab then told Judge Nancy Edmunds.