New York bomb plotter's guilty plea
Updated on 22 February 2010
Najibullah Zazi pleads guilty in a New York court of hatching a plot to blow up a US subway in what officials believe is a major al-Qaida breakthrough.
An Afghan immigrant accused of plotting a bomb attack on New York City's subway system has changed his plea to guilty to three counts.
The suspect, Najibullah Zazi, 24, who had permanent residence in the US, had been accused of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction by plotting to explode bombs in the United States.
He told the judge at Brooklyn's federal court that he planned to sacrifice himself in a martyrdom operation.
Prosecutors believe that Zazi's reported plea change is a major breakthrough in their quest to track down other al-Qaida operatives inside the United States.
Prosecutors said Zazi took a bomb-making course at an al Qaida training camp in Pakistan, had notes on how to make explosives on his laptop computer and acquired materials similar to those used in bomb attacks in London in 2005, buying acetone and hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply stores.
At least four other suspects have been charged in connection with the case: Zazi's father, a New York City imam, and two of his high school classmates from the New York City borough of Queens.
