New York: Two would-be suicide bombers who
targeted New York City subways in 2009 are on a list of
potential witnesses for the upcoming trial of a third man
accused in the foiled terror plot.
A judge made the list naming Najibullah Zazi and Zarein
Ahmedzay public yesterday at the request of a news agency and other news organizations. It had originally been
omitted from a court filing in the case of Adis Medunjanin.
Medunjanin has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he
went to Afghanistan with Zazi and Ahmedzay in 2008 to join the
Taliban and fight US soldiers.
The three former high school classmates from Queens
instead fell into the hands of al Qaeda operatives, who gave
them weapons training in their Pakistan camp and asked them to
become suicide bombers, authorities say.
After returning, Zazi, a former Denver airport shuttle
driver, cooked up explosives with beauty supplies and set out
for New York City around the eighth anniversary of the
September 11, 2001 attacks.
Prosecutors say the plan called for three "coordinated
suicide bombing attacks" on Manhattan subway lines. But Zazi
became suspicious he was being watched by law enforcement and
returned to Colorado.
Zazi and Ahmedzay later admitted in guilty pleas that
they wanted to avenge US aggression in the Arab world by
becoming martyrs.
Also on the list of potential witnesses is Bryant Neal
Vinas, an American-born terrorist who has become a key
government cooperator.
In a guilty plea in 2009, Vinas admitted giving al Qaeda
"expert advice and assistance" about New York`s transit system
and acknowledged participating in a rocket-attack mission on
US forces in Afghanistan.
Opening statements in the Medunjanin trail are set for
April 16 in federal court in Brooklyn.
PTI
