Extradited Al Qaeda Terror Suspect Arrives In New York Ahead Of Arraignment
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A Pakistan-born al Qaeda terror suspect is in federal custody after being extradited to the U.S. from England.
Abid Naseer, 26, arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport Thursday afternoon and will stand trial in Brooklyn.
WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reports
Extradited Al Qaeda Terror Suspect Arrives In New York Ahead Of Arraignment
Federal prosecutors charge Naseer was part of Najibullah Zazi's plot to carry out coordinated suicide bombing attacks in busy subway stations in 2009.
Prosecutors argue that Naseer collected bomb-making ingredients, helped to choose targets and was in close contact with other al Qaeda operatives involved in the foiled New York City subway plot, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
Naseer has also been charged with plotting to bomb a busy shopping area in Manchester, England. Naseer was one of 12 people rounded up in a counter-terrorism crackdown by British authorities in 2009.
He escaped deportation to Pakistan when a judge ruled that he would be tortured if he were sent back to his home country.
In November, a New York man was sentenced to life in prison for plotting an aborted suicide mission against New York City subways.
A jury found Adis Medunjanin guilty on all counts for his role in a terror plot that federal authorities said was one of the closest calls since Sept. 11, 2001. Prosecutors said when the plot was foiled, Medunjanin tried to commit another attack by crashing his car on the Whitestone Expressway in a bid to kill himself and others.
Testifying against Medunjanin was Zazi, the confessed ring leader and bomb maker, and Zarein Ahmedzay, the New York cabbie whose job was to pick out their terror targets.
Prosecutors said Zazi and Medunjanin were friends who met as students at Flushing High School and became more and more radicalized by listening to lectures by radical Islamists. They eventually plotted to kill as many New Yorkers as possible by setting off bomb vests inside subways during rush hour, prosecutors said.
The trio traveled to Pakistan where they were trained by al Qaeda operatives in the use of assault rifles, machine guns and explosives, prosecutors said. They discussed attacking a variety of high-profile locations, like Grand Central Terminal, the New York Stock Exchange, and more, prosecutors said.
Naseer will be arraigned in Brooklyn on Monday.
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