Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who is currently on trial on charges of trying to blow up a US-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009 has decided to let his defense counsel deliver opening remarks next week, court officials said.
Abdulmutallab had been insisting that he wanted to represent himself and address the court directly when the trial gets underway properly on Tuesday.
But he informed judge Nancy Edmunds on Friday that he had decided to allow lawyer Anthony Chambers to contest the charges that he tried to kill nearly 300 people aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Jury selection, which took three days, was marked by incendiary outbursts by Abdulmutallab, including a pledge that Islamic militants will wipe out "the cancer US" and his praise for slain Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi.
The judge had repeatedly urged Abdulmutallab to let a lawyer argue his case, and appointed Chambers as "standby counsel" to help him fight charges.
While he accepted some help from Chambers, Abdulmutallab had initially stood by his plan to make his own opening statement and question witnesses during what is expected to be a weeks-long trial.
During jury selection, he had closely questioned one of the potential jurors, asking why she had expressed fears about her personal safety.
A dozen jurors -- nine women and three men -- and four alternates were picked on Thursday.
The trial will be closely watched as it comes after the killing of the US-born Awlaqi, who US intelligence officials had repeatedly linked to the Christmas Day plot.
The December 25 plot was foiled when explosives allegedly stitched into Abdulmutallab's underwear failed to detonate and only caused a small fire, allowing passengers and crew members to restrain him.
The botched operation triggered global alarm and led the United States to adopt stringent new screening and security measures, including controversial pat-downs at airports and a massive expansion of the no-fly list.
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