Bomb Plot Thickens

An Afghan immigrant, Najibullah Zazi, 25, has pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to planning a suicide bomb attack on the city’s subway system. “[He] also admitted in a federal court in New York on Monday that he had received bomb-making and weapons training from al-Qaeda in Pakistan’s Waziristan region, which borders Afghanistan. ‘The plan was to conduct [a] martyrdom operation in Manhattan’ around the time of the eighth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Zazi told the court. ‘To me, it meant I would sacrifice myself to bring attention to what the US military was doing to civilians in Afghanistan.’ Zazi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to al-Qaeda. The guilty pleas – part of an agreement between prosecutors and the defence – suggest Zazi was willing to co-operate with investigators, but lawyers in the case declined to comment. At least four other suspects have been charged in connection with the case – Zazi’s father, two of Zazi’s high school classmates and a New York City imam.”