NYC terrorism suspect pleads guilty in bomb plot
NEW YORK
Najibullah Zazi told a judge the terror network recruited him to
be a suicide bomber in New York, where he went to high school and
once worked a coffee cart just blocks from the World Trade Center
site.
"I would sacrifice myself to bring attention to what the U.S.
military was doing to civilians in Afghanistan," Zazi said in
court.
The Associated Press learned earlier this month that the jailed
Zazi had recently volunteered information about the bomb plot in
the first step toward a plea deal. His cooperation suggests
prosecutors hope to expand the case and bring charges against other
suspects in one of the most serious terrorism threats in the U.S.
since Sept. 11, 2001.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the terror
investigation is ongoing.
Zazi, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass
destruction, conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country and
providing material support for a terrorist organization. He faces a
life prison sentence without parole at a sentencing in June.
The bombings "could have been devastating," Attorney General
Eric Holder said in Washington. "This attempted attack on our
homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been
deadly."
Zazi said in court he traveled to Pakistan in 2008 to join the
Taliban and fight against the U.S. military but was recruited by
the terrorist network in Peshewar and went into a training camp in
Warziristan, a region of Pakistan where al-Qaida is known to
operate.
Zazi said he received weapons training at the camp and learned
about explosives. He also said in court that he had been in contact
with al-Qaida operatives while in Pakistan, but he did not identify
them.
"During the training, al-Qaida leaders asked us to return to
the United States and conduct martyrdom operation," he said. "We
agreed to this plan."
The Pakistan Embassy in Washington declined to comment on Zazi's
case.
Zazi admitted using notes taken at the training camp to build
homemade explosives with beauty supplies purchased in the Denver
suburbs and cooked up in a Colorado hotel room. He then drove the
materials to New York just before the eighth anniversary of the
Sept. 11 terror attacks.
His plan was to assemble the bombs over the weekend and detonate
them in the following days.
While entering the city, he was stopped by police for a routine
traffic violation on the George Washington Bridge, which connects
New Jersey and New York. Suspicious officers allowed him to go free
but kept a close watch on his movements.
"The plan was to conduct martydom operation on the subway lines
in Manhattan as soon as the material was ready," he said, adding
the attack involved a number of bombs.
Days later, authorities raided several Queens apartments,
including a friend's home where Zazi had stayed.
Asked by federal Judge Raymond J. Dearie if he had been willing
to be a suicide bomber, Zazi said, "Yes, your honor."
Sometime after the traffic stop, Zazi realized New York
authorities were investigating him. "At that point, we threw away
the detonator explosives and other materials," he said.
One of the people familiar with the investigation said that Zazi
told prosecutors that he made roughly two pounds of a powerful and
highly unstable explosive called triacetone triperoxide, or TATP.
The same explosive was used by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid
in 2001 and the terrorists who carried out the London bombings in
2005 that killed 52 people. In those instances, TATP was not the
main charge; it was the detonator.
One of the people familiar with the Zazi case told the AP that
Zazi decided to cooperate after being warned that his mother could
face criminal immigration charges. The officials spoke on condition
of anonymity because the investigation is in progress.
After Monday's hearing, Zazi's attorney, William Stampur, would
only say: "The plea speaks for itself."
The written plea agreement is sealed.
In Washington, Holder used the case to rebut Republican critics
who have said the Democratic administration should try such
terrorism suspects before military tribunals rather than through
civilian courts.
"To take this tool out of our hands, to denigrate this tool,
flies in the face of facts and is more about politics than it is
about facts," Holder said at a news conference.
Others charged in the terror case include Zazi's father,
Mohammed Wali Zazi, who was accused this month of trying to get rid
of chemicals and other evidence.
After initially demanding that he be jailed in Brooklyn without
bail, prosecutors agreed to a deal on Feb. 17 releasing him on
$50,000 bond and allowing him to return to his home in suburban
Denver.
By contrast, bond for a Queens imam charged with lying to the
FBI about phone contact with Zazi when Zazi was in New York was set
at $1.5 million. A friend of Zazi's, New York cab driver Zarein
Ahmedzay, was jailed without bail on a similar lying charge.
Authorities say Ahmedzay and another former high school
classmate of Zazi's, Adis Medunjanin, traveled to Pakistan with
Zazi in 2008. Medunjanin has pleaded not guilty to charges he
conspired to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and remains jailed.
Officials earlier confirmed reports week that Zazi's uncle had
been arraigned on a felony count in secret -- a sign that he also
could be cooperating.