Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab accused of trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear made an outburst in federal court Tuesday, claiming that a radical Muslim cleric recently killed by the U.S. military is still alive.
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SUPER Eagles have made a passionate appeal to football fans to keep faith with them when things become tough during Saturday's match against Guinea in Abuja.
Nigerian fans have over the years gained notoriety for their seeming impatient with Nigerian teams when on international duties at home.
The ever- impatient fans jeer, boo and sometimes hurl missiles at the players when they are stuttering during matches.
But the Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia, captain Joseph Yobo and striker Osaz Odemwingie said the outcome of the Guinea match could be detrimental to Nigeria's Nations Cup should fans choose to turn against the Eagles when things become difficult.
Siasia and the players said in different interviews that fans, as the twelfth player, would play a key role in Nigeria's quest to defeat the Guineans and qualify for next year's competition in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Yobo begged the fans for unalloyed support and commitment throughout the match, which he insisted would spur them to smashing performance.
'We want to appeal to the fans to come out and make the job easier for us.
They have to make the stadium an intimidating place for the Guineans by filling up the stadium at least two hours before the game.
'We don't want a violent atmosphere, we just want the whole stadium to be a sea of green and white so that when they walk in, they'll know that they are playing not only the players on the field, but the fans too,' said the Fenerbahce defender.
Odemwingie said the players have showed so much commitment with their attitude ahead of the match and their effort should be complemented with unflinching support from the fans.
'I think we as players have shown how committed we are to this game by the way everyone
has reported to camp just a day after the coach opened camp.
'Even Efe Ambrose, who got married on Saturday, has left his young wife and is here to serve his country.
'We want to appeal to the fans to also do their part by coming out and filling up the stadium at least two hours before the game like the captain has said, to show the Guineans that we mean business.
'This is a collective effort between the players and we will all enjoy the Nations Cup together.'
Siasia echoed the sentiment of his players when he enjoined the fans to create electric atmosphere at the Abuja Stadium by throng- ing the stadium en-masse and cheer the team to victory.
'We want our people to come and create the correct atmosphere at the stadium, the singing and dancing, and the whole works.
We want the place bright with sea of green and white colours and everyone cheering every move of the Super Eagles.
'Support is always key in games of this nature. And we believe that Nigerians from everywhere will come to the Stadium and cheer Super Eagles to victory,' said Siasia.
The Nigerian team needs to beat the Syli Nationale by a minimum of two-goal margin to secure an automatic qualifying ticket to the 2012 Nations Cup.
Nigeria has never failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations since failing at the final qualify- ing hurdle against Zambia in a 0-1 aggregate defeat in 1985.
Also, Tunisia is the only team to have escaped unhurt against the Super Eagles in a competitive match at the National Stadium, Abuja, when forcing the Eagles to a 2-2 draw in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match 25 months ago.
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Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi will be fined 5,000 dollars for missing the Tuesday deadline to report to the Super Eagles' camp in Abuja.
Team Media Officer, Mr Colin Udoh, said on Tuesday in Abuja that Eagles officials were unimpressed with the player and had handed down the fine to the player.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Eagles are preparing for their Final Round Group B match in the 2012 African Nations Cup qualifying competition.
The team on Tuesday morning had its first training session after it opened camp on Monday in Abuja, with only 12 players available for a warm-up.
The number of players in camp, however, swelled to 21 for the afternoon training session, with Obi the only player absent out of the 22 players invited to camp.
"All players were expected to show up by lunch-time on Tuesday, but Obi called to inform officials that he would only come in on Wednesday as he needed time to attend to family matters."
Udoh told NAN that the fine was standard practice, even as the player was still being expected to arrive in camp on Wednesday.
"The fine is for being late to camp, and this is as earlier agreed by all involved with the team."
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Defiant Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, yesterday told a U.S. Federal Court sitting in Detroit, that not only is the radical Islamic cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, killed by the U.S. elite forces last week still alive, but that the U.S. itself is a cancer, that will be wiped out.
Abdulmutallab, son of a prominent Nigerian banker, is standing trial for allegedly trying to bomb an international jetliner on Christmas Day in 2009.
He is said to have concealed the bomb in his underwear. Abdulmutallab's outburst came as jury selection got under way for his federal terror trial in Detroit, where the 24 year old is acting as his own attorney and has previously told reporters they should stop reporting that Osama bin Laden was dead.
'Anwar is alive,'Abdulmutallab said yesterday, referring to American born cleric Anwar al Awlaki, who was killed last week by a joint CIA-U.S. military air strike in Yemen.
'The mujahadeen will wipe out the U.S.' he added. Abdulmutallab, a well educated Nigerian from an upper class family, is allegedly a tutelage of al Awlaki and wanted to become a martyr when he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 Amsterdam on Christmas 2009, according to the government.
Abdulmutallab, who complained loudly at a previous hearing about having to wear prison clothes, came into the courtroom yesterday wearing an over sized prison T shirt.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds called a brief recess to allow him to change into clothes more appropriate for court, after acknowledging and denying his apparent request to wear a 'Yemeni belt with a dagger.' Abdulmutallab later wore a long robe with a dark pinstriped coat over it, as well as a black skull cap.
The judge has denied several of Abdulmutallab's requests for the trial, including that the case be judged under Islamic law. Abdulmutallab has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
The government says he wanted to blow up the plane by detonating chemicals in his underwear, just seven minutes before the jet carrying 279 passengers and a crew of 11 was to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
But the bomb didn't work, and passengers, assisted by crew members, saw flames and pounced on Abdulmutallab. The failed suicide attack, the first act of terrorism in the U.S. during the Obama administration, revealed the rise of a dangerous al-Qaeda affiliate and al Awlaki's growing influence.
The government says Abdulmutallab willingly explained the plot twice, first to U.S. border officers who took him off the plane and then in more detail to FBI agents who interviewed him at a hospital for 50 minutes, following treatment for serious burns to his groin.
Abdulmutallab told authorities he trained in Yemen, home base for Al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He said he was influenced by al Awlaki, who was killed on Friday by an air strike that President Barack Obama called a 'major blow' to Al-Qaeda's most dangerous franchise.
After the outburst about al Awlaki and flap over Abdulmutallab's clothes, jury selection got under way in earnest, with most questioning done by the judge and attorney Anthony Chambers, who has been appointed to assist Abdulmutallab.
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The trial of a young African man accused of trying to bring down an airliner near Detroit with a bomb in his underwear is no whodunit. Prosecutors have his hospital-bed confession, dozens of witnesses, remnants of the explosive and an al Qaeda video featuring the 24-year-old explaining his suicide mission.
Nonetheless, the prosecution of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab carries high stakes. His failed attack was the first act of terrorism in the United States during the Obama administration, and it could have implications in the debate over whether terrorism suspects should be tried in civilian or military courts.
The case, which starts today with jury selection, also revealed the rise of a dangerous al Qaeda affiliate and the growing influence of a radical Islamic cleric, who was killed by a CIA-U.S. military strike only last week.
Abdulmutallab, a well-educated Nigerian from an upper-class family who has pleaded not guilty, was directed by American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and said he wanted to become a martyr on Christmas 2009 when he boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in Amsterdam with 290 passengers and crew, according to the government.
A conviction on multiple charges could bolster the argument that suspected terrorists should be prosecuted through civilian courts, not military proceedings. Full-throated bipartisan opposition forced the Obama administration to cancel a New York trial for professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, although there have been no similar issues in Detroit.
"Convictions that are achieved in federal court using proper procedures will be upheld on appeal. That's simply too powerful a tool for the president not to use," said Vijay Padmanabhan, a former State Department lawyer who handled cases involving terror-related detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Abdulmutallab faces eight charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. The government says he wanted to blow up the plane by detonating chemicals in his underwear, just seven minutes before Flight 253 was to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
But the bomb didn't work. Passengers assisted by crew members saw flames and pounced on Abdulmutallab.
Smoke was everywhere and "we thought we were losing our lives," said Patricia "Scotti" Keepman of Oconomowoc, Wis., who was seated many rows behind Abdulmutallab with her husband, daughter and two newly adopted children from Ethiopia.
The government says Abdulmutallab willingly explained the plot twice, first to U.S. border officers who took him off the plane and then in more detail to FBI agents who interviewed him at a hospital following treatment for serious burns to his groin.
Abdulmutallab told authorities he trained in Yemen, home base for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He said he was influenced by al-Awlaki, who was killed Friday by an air strike that President Obama called a major blow to al Qaeda's most dangerous franchise.
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