Detroit:
At least five passengers were expected to speak today at the sentencing of a Nigerian man who admitted trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner at Christmas 2009.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab faces a sentence of life in prison, four months after pleading guilty in US federal court.
Abdulmutallab, the 25-year-old son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, tried to detonate a bomb in his underwear as the flight from Amsterdam approached Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The device didn't work but caused smoke and flames and badly burned his groin.
The government says Abdulmutallab was on a suicide mission for Al Qaeda.
During his trial, Abdulmutallab said he was carrying a "blessed weapon" to avenge Muslims who have been killed or poorly treated around the world. He admitted he was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and leading Al Qaeda figure in Yemen who was killed by a US drone strike last fall.