Bomb Suspect Moved From Michigan Hospital to Federal Prison

Authorities tell Fox News that 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a plane over Detroit, has been released from the hospital.

"The suspect has been moved to a secure location in eastern Michigan," said U.S. Marshalls spokesman Kevin Petit.

An attorney for Abdulmutallab told The Associated Press that he has been transferred to a federal prison.

Miriam Siefer says she hasn't had an in-depth talk yet with Abdulmutallab since he was charged Saturday. Siefer, the chief federal defender in Detroit, called the charges serious but declined further comment.

She said Sunday he's now at a prison about 50 miles away from Detroit after being released from a hospital where he was treated for burns.

Siefer says she's trying to find a legal basis to oppose the government's request for a DNA sample during a hearing on Monday. Abdulmutallab won't be present at that hearing.

On December 24, Abdulmutallab traveled from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then on to Detroit with an explosive device attached to his body.

Part of the device contained PETN, or pentaerythritol, and was hidden in a condom or condom-like bag just below Abdulmutallab's torso. PETN is the same material convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid used when he tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes. Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid.

As the plane approached Detroit, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he complained of an upset stomach and covered himself with a blanket.

Passengers heard a popping noise similar to a firecracker. They smelled an odor, and some passengers saw Abdulmutallab's pant leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and the flight crew used blankets and fire extinguishers to quell the flames. They restrained Abdulmutallab, who later told a flight attendant he had an "explosive device" in his pocket. He was seen holding a partially melted syringe.

The airplane landed in Detroit shortly after the incident.

On Saturday, federal officials charged the young man with trying to destroy the airplane. A conviction on the charge could bring Abdulmutallab up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman read Abdulmutallab the charges in a conference room at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the former London university student is undergoing burn treatment. Abdulmutallab smiled as he was wheeled into the room, his left thumb and right wrist bandaged and part of the skin on the thumb was burned off.

Abdulmutallab claimed to have received training and instructions from Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen, law enforcement officials said. He is also believed to have had Internet contact with militant Islamic radicals.

Four weeks ago, Abdulmutallab's father told the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, that he was concerned about his son's religious beliefs. This information was passed on to U.S. intelligence officials.

Abdulmutallab received a valid U.S. visa in June 2008 that is good through 2010.

His is one of about 550,000 names in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database, known as TIDE, which is maintained by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center and was created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Intelligence officials said they lacked enough information to place him in the 400,000-person terror watch list or on the no-fly list of fewer than 4,000 people who should be blocked from air travel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.