‘Underpants bomber’ warns of attacks after guilty plea

The son of a Nigerian banker surprised prosecutors yesterday by admitting that he tried to bring down an American airliner with an explosive device hidden in his underwear.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a former University College London engineering student, claimed that further terrorist attacks against America would follow, as he entered a guilty plea in a Detroit courtroom.

Prosecutors had assembled a wealth of evidence against Abdulmutallab, whose attempted attack on Christmas Day in 2009 was witnessed by other passengers, but he had given no indication that he would confess in open court.

On the second day of his trial, he appeared to be calm as he pleaded guilty to eight charges that included conspiracy to commit terrorism and attempting to use a weapon of mass