She wants the U. S. government to help pay any state and local costs in the trial of a man accused of trying to blow up Flight 253, a Michigan congresswoman has said.

The Detroit Free Press reported on Wednesday that Candace Miller, R-Mich., says local and state governments shouldn't be burdened with security costs in the trial of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who allegedly tried to set off explosives on the Detroit-bound flight in December 2009.

The newspaper further said that Miller, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Abdulmutallab should be tried as an "unlawful enemy combatant" by a military court.

However she said that if a civil criminal trial is held in Detroit, neither the city nor the state, both with severe financial problems, are "in a position to absorb the additional security related costs of holding this trial."

Miller said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, "The costs to local and state government must be borne by the federal government." (With Inputs from Agencies)