Nigerian indicted in U.S. for airline bomb plot

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is shown in this booking photograph released by the U.S. Marshals Service December 28, 2009.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury on Wednesday indicted Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on six counts for trying to blow up an American airliner in a plot that exposed large breakdowns in U.S. security and intelligence.

The 23-year-old man, who has told investigators that he was given an explosive device by al Qaeda in Yemen and trained there, had been previously charged with trying to blow up Northwest flight 253 on Christmas as it was approaching Detroit from Amsterdam.

A grand jury in Michigan indicted him on six counts for the failed bombing, including attempted murder of the other 289 passengers and crew aboard the plane, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

The bomb, concealed in his clothing, contained the high explosive Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) and Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), among other ingredients, and it was designed for Abdulmutallab to detonate it at a time of his choosing, the indictment said.

Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up the aircraft was thwarted by passengers and crew on the plane who extinguished the flames and restrained him.

A detention hearing was scheduled to be held on Friday in a Detroit courtroom, however it was not immediately clear whether that proceeding would occur.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, Editing by Sandra Maler)