The Hill News

The Nigerian student who attempted to blow up a plane over Detroit with a bomb sewn into his underwear pleaded guilty at a trial Wednesday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who said after the botched Christmas Day attack that he was affiliated with the al Qaeda terrorist network, faces between 30 years and life in prison.

Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to eight felony counts surrounding the botched attack. He then read from a statement that said that while he was guilty under American rules, he was not guilty under Islamic law for the attempted crime, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The would-be terrorist then said he attempted the attack in retaliation for the murder of innocent civilians in Middle Eastern war zones by the United States, and said committing jihad was one of "the most virtuous acts" a Muslim can perform. Abdulmutallab had said previously that he was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born al Qaeda leader killed earlier thi! s month in a drone strike.

{mosads}"If you laugh at us now, we will laugh at you later," Abdulmutallab said, warning that "a calamity" would befall the United States.

Abdulmutallab will be sentenced in January.

The so-called "underwear bomber's" trial in federal court has been a controversial tactic on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have argued that the Obama administration should have tried the proceedings in military, rather than civilian, court. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said that doing so squandered an opportunity to gather intelligence about al Qaeda.

"Abdulmutallab is a war criminal, not a civilian," he said to the Los Angeles Times. "It is wrong to provide him with the rights and privileges afforded in a civilian trial."