The Nigerian man suspected of trying to blow up a US plane on Christmas Day is now cooperating and providing "useful" information, US officials say.

美国官员称，试图在圣诞节当日炸毁一架美国客机的尼日利亚男子目前正与美国当局合作并提供“有用的”信息。

Abdulmutallab had stopped talking after surgery for burns

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had stopped talking to investigators¹ but started again "last week", officials told US media.

Mr Abdulmutallab, 23, is accused of trying to blow up爆炸，炸毁 a flight to Detroit with a bomb hidden in his underwear内衣.

He has denied a charge of attempting to murder 290 people.

The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says that with Mr Abdulmutallab apparently² talking again, officials say it is conceivable可想象的，可能的 a plea恳求，辩解 bargain might be now reached.

Constitutional rights

An official quoted by Reuters路透社 news agency said: "Abdulmutallab is talking and has been talking since last week providing useful, actionable可控告的，可提起诉讼的 and current intelligence that we've been actively³ following up on."

When questioned on the subject, FBI director Robert Mueller told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the intelligence was valuable and that Mr Abdulmutallab was still being questioned.

The interrogation审问，讯问 of Mr Abdulmutallab has caused controversy⁴ in the US.

The suspect had been talking to FBI agents before he went into surgery for burns on his legs but afterwards refused to talk.

Agents then read him full rights under the US constitution, guaranteeing he would not have to give incriminating归罪的 evidence.

Some politicians argued he should have been treated as a military detainee.

A senior law enforcement official told the BBC that some of Mr Abdulmutallab's family had visited him in the middle of last month and that that had played a role in him beginning to talk again.

In his earlier comments Mr Abdulmutallab said he had been trained by al-Qaeda-linked militants⁵ in Yemen.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the failed bomb attack.

Mr Abdulmutallab caught the flight to Detroit from the Netherlands, after connecting from a flight from Nigeria.