Afghan immigrant pleads guilty for his role in NY subway bomb attempt
February 23rd, 2010 - 5:36 am ICT by BNO NewsWASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – An Afghan immigrant, of Aurora, Colorado, pleaded guilty on Monday for his involvement in a plot to bomb stations of the New York subway system in September 2009, the Department of Justice announced.
Najibullah Zazi, 25, a legal permanent resident of the United States, was arrested on September 19, 2009 and charged with three counts superseding information charging him with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property in the United States, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to al Qaeda. He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for the first two counts and 15 years in prison for the third count.
Zazi and others traveled to Afghanistan to join the Taliban fight against the U.S. and allied forces. Upon their arrival, they were recruited by al-Qaeda. They were trained and asked to perform suicide operations in American territory.
After agreeing, Zazi received additional training on constructing the explosives for the attacks. He returned to U.S. along with his notes and moved to Denver. In June 2009, he began to study and research about bomb-making. He traveled to N.Y. in order to meet with others and discuss plans and targets.
Zazi admitted that he brought TATP (Triacetone Triperoxide) explosives to New York on September 10, 2009. Zazi and others planned to execute the attacks at some time from September 14 to September 16. However, Zazi noticed they were under the radar of law enforcement agents and discarded the explosives and the bomb-making materials. He went back to Denver where he was arrested.
“This was one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since September 11, 2001, and were it not for the combined efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, it could have been devastating,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.
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Tags: additional training, allied forces, american territory, aurora colorado, bno, conspiracy to commit murder, department of justice, eric holder, explosives, intelligence communities, life imprisonment, material support, maximum penalty, najibullah, new york subway, new york subway system, permanent resident, september 11 2001, terrorist threats, weapons of mass destruction