US officials defend handling of airline bomb case
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The US Justice Department on Thursday defended its decision to charge a Nigerian man with trying to blow up a US passenger jet in a criminal court amid fierce Republican criticism that doing so hampered obtaining intelligence from the suspect.
US Attorney General Eric Holder's spokesman Matthew Miller said FBI agents obtained useful intelligence from Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after he was arrested but before he was charged for allegedly trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it flew from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. (Reuters)
