Remorseless Underwear Bomber, Abdulmutallab Sentenced To Life In Prison As Family Appeals To American Justice Department

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to bring down Northwest flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 with an underwear bomb, said he was "proud to kill in the name of God" before he was sentenced to multiple life sentences today in a Detroit courtroom.

"Today is a day of victory and God is great," said Abdulmutallab, 25. He also said that al Qaeda would one day be victorious, and that acts like his will continue until "the righteous servants of Allah inherit the world."

"The defendant has never expressed doubt or remorse about his mission," said Judge Nancy Edmunds in imposing four life sentences plus 50 years. "To the contrary, he sees that mission as divinely inspired and a continuing mission."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathleen Corken had asked Judge Edmunds to impose the maximum sentence allowable for Abdulmutallab's "cold-blooded, calculated plan to kill everyone aboard the plane."

"We ask the court to impose the maximum sentence on each count," said Corken, "to ensure that he never again will have the chance to harm an American citizen."

Earlier, five passengers who had been on flight 253 each got a chance to speak. Shama Chopra of Montreal told Abdulmutallab, "You had no right to take my life," but then handed Abdulmutallab's lawyer a rosary to give to the 25-year-old Nigerian, who is a devout Muslim.

Meanwhile, in statement to the BBC, the family of Abdulmutallab said they were "grateful to God that the unfortunate incident of that date did not result in any injury or death".

"We strongly appeal to the American justice department to review the life sentence," they said. "We also appeal to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to continue with their support and engage with the American government to ensure that a review is made."

Ahead of the sentencing, assistant defence lawyer Anthony Chambers argued that a life sentence for Abdulmutallab would be unconstitutional, since no other passengers were hurt.

"Not one passenger lost his or her life. Not one passenger suffered life-threatening injuries," he said

Many more young Nigerians have been radicalised since Lagos-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's actions linked the West African country to al-Qaeda.

But the organisation behind their radicalisation is Boko Haram, a local religious group that has turned militant. It wants Nigeria ruled by strict Islamic law and its recruits take quite different journeys from that of the man in his twenties from a very wealthy northern Nigerian family, now in the hands of the US penal system.

A neighbour of the Abdulmutallab family in Kaduna, prominent rights activist Shehu Sani, told me a lighter sentence would give Umar Farouk a deserved chance to rehabilitate. The blame should lie with the terrorists who took advantage of the model student, as he was too young to know better, he said.

Some in the Muslim north think the whole case is a US conspiracy. There is far less sympathy for him in the Christian south. Matthew, a banker, said that a death sentence would be justified. Having harmed Nigeria's image, as Boko Haram is doing now, Matthew said the 25-year-old does not deserve a second chance.
The life sentence was mandatory after Abdulmutallab pled guilty last year to eight charges, including attempted murder, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.
He is expected to be sent to the federal "supermax" pentitentiary in Florence, Colorado. The prison, widely considered the most secure in the U.S., already houses other notorious inmates, including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, and 1993 World Trade Center bombing conspirator Ramzi Yousef.

Abdulmutallab refused to see his parents, who traveled to the U.S. and tried to visit him at the federal prison in Milan, Michigan.