A judge overseeing the trial of a Nigerian man accused of a botched Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger jet in 2009 laid out ground rules aimed largely at shielding jurors' privacy

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear on a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit from Amsterdam, in a failed attack for which Yemen-based Al Qaeda militants claimed responsibility. Abdulmutallab, who pleaded not guilty in the case, had previously told U.S. investigators that he received the bomb and training from Al Qaeda militants in Yemen, home to a resurgent arm of the militant network, U.S. officials said. Much of U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds' order concerned the security of prospective jurors and those ultimately selected to hear the case. Citing the intense media and public interest in the trial, Edmunds ruled that the jury would remain anonymous. She prohibited any attempts to make contact with jurors while they are involved in the case and placed limits on what sketch artists covering the trial may include in their drawings. Edmunds also barred spectators from bringing cell phones, laptops, PDAs or other electronic devices, including recorders, into the courtroom. She said that if any reporters violated the rules, she would consider banning laptops and other recording devices from a media overflow room, or closing it altogether. She warned that members of the media who violated her rules would forfeit their organization's courtroom seating credentials for the duration of the trial. The device in the 2009 bombing attempt failed to fully detonate and Abdulmutallab, who suffered severe burns, was subsequently charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and four other offenses, charges that could lead to life in prison if convicted.