An Afghan immigrant pleaded guilty on Monday to planning a suicide bomb attack on New York City subways with al-Qaeda training for what would have been the worst attack on the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.
Najibullah Zazi, 25, also admitted in Brooklyn federal court 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 Sept. 11, Mr. Zazi told U.S. District Raymond Dearie.
"To me, it meant I would sacrifice myself to bring attention to what the U.S. military was doing to civilians in Afghanistan," Mr. Zazi, wearing a neatly trimmed beard and prison uniform, said in an emotionless tone.
Mr. 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 -- termed an agreement between prosecutors and the defense -- suggest Mr. Zazi was willing to cooperate with investigators, but lawyers in the case declined to comment.
He faces life in prison.
Attorney General Eric Holder has called the plot one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mr. Zazi said he and unnamed others -- believed to be two co-defendants who went to high school with him in the New York City borough of Queens -- traveled to Pakistan en route to Afghanistan in 2008 in order to "fight alongside (the) Taliban against the United States and its allies."
"While we were in Pakistan we were recruited by al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda asked us to return to the United States to conduct martyrdom operations," Zazi said.
He admitted to driving from Colorado to New York in September of 2009 with detonators and materials to build bombs, and that he threw them away when he realized authorities had him under surveillance.
Prosecutors said Zazi took a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda 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 Queens.
The suspect's father, Mohammed Zazi, is accused of conspiring to destroy evidence, and the imam, Ahmad Afzali, is accused of having tipped off the younger Zazi that he was under scrutiny. Both were arrested on charges of making false statements to the FBI and have been let out on bail.
In January, federal authorities arrested Adis Medunjanin, 25, and Zarein Ahmedzay, 24, after Mr. Medunjanin led the FBI on a high-speed chase in Queens during which he invoked the name of Allah in a 911 emergency call, according to a law enforcement official.
Mr. Medunjanin, of Bosnian origin, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, Pakistan, and receiving military-style training from al Qaeda.
Mr. Ahmedzay, of Afghani origin, pleaded not guilty to a charge of making false statements to the FBI -- specifically, that he lied about the places he had visited in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and about whether an unnamed third party attended al Qaeda camps.
In addition, the New York Times has reported that Mr. Zazi's uncle was arrested and brought before a judge in a secret federal proceeding in January.
Naqib Jaji, 38, is believed to have pleaded not guilty to one felony count on Jan. 14, the newspaper said. A court docket for the sealed indictment identified the defendant as "John Doe." That designation often indicates an individual is cooperating with prosecutors.