By Madina Toure
Two former Flushing High School students who pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb the city’s subway system back in 2010 testified in the Brooklyn federal trial of an al Qaeda operative who was convicted this week for his role in an international terrorism scheme targeting the United States and Europe.
Following a two-week trial, Abid Naseer, 28, a Pakistani national who joined al Qaeda and plotted to commit a terrorist attack in the United Kingdom, was found guilty by a jury in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday. He was convicted of providing and conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda and conspiring to use a destructive device, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District in Brooklyn said.
Najibullah Zazi, the Flushing grad who was asked to testify in the trial, said that after he was trained on how to use explosives in Pakistan, he was directed by the same al Qaeda leader as Naseer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Zarein Ahmedzay, another one of the Flushing trio, also testified.
In September 2008, al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan recruited Zazi, Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin, three friends who met at Flushing High School, to conduct a suicide bombing attack in the city, federal prosecutors said. The al-Qaeda leaders communicated with Zazi about the plot through an al-Qaeda facilitator named “Ahmad” in Peshawar, Pakistan.
In early September 2009, after the three chose the city’s subway system as their target, Zazi emailed “Ahmad” in Pakistan about ingredients for the main charge explosive, which included flour and oil.
Zazi pleaded guilty to his role in the plot in February 2010. Ahmedzay, another Flushing High School student, pleaded guilty in April 2010. Medunjanin, a third Flushing High School friend who pleaded not guilty, was convicted after a trial in May 2012. All three are serving lengthy prison sentences.
Trial evidence indicated that Naseer and his Pakistani accomplices had been dispatched by al Qaeda to Britain in 2006 to prepare an attack there. Naseer and his co-conspirators went to Britain on student visas and dropped out of the university where they had enrolled.
Naseer returned to Peshawar in November 2009, at the same time that Zazi and his friends received weapons and explosives training from al Qaeda.
When he returned to the United Kingdom, he sent messages to the email “Ahmad” was using to communicate with the American-based al Qaeda cell.
Naseer used coded language to indicate different types of explosives. In early April 2009, Naseer told “Ahmad” he was planning a big “wedding” and that “Ahmad” should be ready.
During the two-week trial, Zazi testified that “Ahmad” told him to use the same code of “marriage” to refer to the planned attack on the city’s subway. He said he emailed “Ahmad,” saying that “the marriage is ready” just before he drove to the city in early September 2009 to conduct the attack.
Naseer faces life in prison.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
