Afghan-origin man pleads guilty to NY terror plot

Najibullah Zazi told a judge on Monday that he was recruited by the terrorist organisation in his native Afghanistan to be a suicide bomber in New York, a confession that prompted the US Attorney General Eric Holder to say that people were continued to be trained in Pakistan to carry out suicide missions in America.
Zazi pleaded guilty before a Brooklyn court to three charges — conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to the al-Qaeda.

He told the court that his plan was to blow up the New York subway system just after the 8th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Describing the plot as one of the most “serious” terrorist threats, Holder said Zazi travelled to Pakistan in August 2008 with plans to join the Taliban in fighting against the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.
Zazi told the court that he was recruited by members of the al-Qaeda, who transported him to the Waziristan region of Pakistan and urged him to launch a suicide attack in the US. He agreed to do so.

Zazi said he received weapons training at the camp and learned about explosives and was in contact with the al-Qaeda, while in Pakistan.
“During my interaction with al-Qaeda leaders, they asked me to return to the US and conduct martyrdom operations,” Zazi told the court. Zazi returned to the US in January 2009 and moved to Denver, Colorado, where he used his notes taken at the training camp to build homemade explosives and purchasing beauty products to use them as triggers.

The plot was busted as Zazi made his way back to New York, where he was stopped by police for traffic violation. Though he was allowed to go free, the authorities launched a watch on his movements.

Days later, the sinister plot was unearthed when anti-terror policemen searched Zazi’s apartment and houses of his friends.
The US citizen of Afghan-origin told the prosecutors that he had made roughly 900 grams of a powerful explosive called Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP).
Others charged in the terror case include Zazi’s father Mohd Wali Zazi, who has been accused of trying to get rid of chemicals.

The Attorney-General said Zazi was planning to set up bombs on September 14, 15 or 16, 2009, but had tried to flee after receiving a tip-off that he was being watched.
Two other New York men have been arrested and charged as associates of Zazi.
PTI