Former Flushing resident Najibullah Zazi has pleaded guilty to charges that he brought explosives to New York from his home in Aurora, Colorado – to be a suicide bomber in the city’s subway system.
Zazi, 25, entered his guilty plea in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday, February 22, before Chief U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie.
He admitted to arriving here on Wednesday, September 10, 2009 with a load of the explosive TATP (Triacetone Triperoxide) that he learned how to make in an Al Qaeda training camp in northern Pakistan.
On Monday and in earlier filings, Zazi, a permanent resident who came to the U.S. as a child and graduated from Flushing High School, also admitted that in August of 2008 he and others planned to travel back to his native Afghanistan and fight with the Taliban against U.S. and allied forces.
He said that when they arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan for training in Waziristan, he and the others were instead recruited by Al Qaeda – to return to the U.S. and conduct “martyrdom operations.”
Zazi also admitting to leaving behind his computer and other materials for Al Qaeda’s use.
On the charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiring to murder in a foreign country, Zazi faces life imprisonment. On the charge of providing material support to Al Qaeda, the penalty is up to 15 years in prison.
According to Zazi’s statement, he and the others planned to complete and detonate their bombs between Monday, September 14 and Wednesday, September 16.
However, realizing they were under surveillance, the conspirators ditched the explosives and Zazi returned to Colorado – where he was arrested by federal authorities on September 19 and returned to New York.
His father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 54, was arrested about the same time for lying to federal agents. The elder Zazi was indicted as a “John Doe” in late January for helping to dispose of the explosives. This process is sometimes employed when a subject is cooperating and he was released on $50,000 bail on Wednesday, September 17.
The elder Zazi is under house arrest and wearing an anklet. Sources have suggested that the son may have been influenced by his father’s plight – and that his mother is subject to deportation.
Zazi’s uncle, former mullah and two associates have all been arrested, on a variety of charges.
The announcement of the guilty plea was made by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who said, “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.”
“This attempted attack on our homeland was real, it was in motion, and it would have been deadly,” he said. “We were able to thwart this plot because of careful analysis by our intelligence agents and prompt actions by law enforcement.”
QUEENS COURIER/File Photo
Najibullah Zazi, who attended Flushing High School, has pleaded guilty to charges that he planned to be a suicide bomber in the city’s subway system.
