I'm a Muslim soldier, terrorist tells court
Source: Agencies |
June 23, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TERRORIST Faisal Shahzad offered chilling details yesterday about how he trained with the Pakistani Taliban to build bombs, then returned to the United States to launch an attack that would avenge attacks on Muslims by US forces overseas.
He was so eager to tell how he plotted to kill Americans in New York's Times Square, he went to court with a prepared statement.
But Judge Miriam Cedarbaum refused to hear him read it on Monday, instead challenging the Pakistan-born American citizen to just say "what happened."
"One has to understand where I'm coming from," he said, with his defense attorney and prosecutors sitting in silence in the Manhattan court. "I consider myself a Muslim soldier."
Shahzad, 30, admitted leaving an SUV rigged with a homemade bomb in Times Square on the night of May 1. The bomb failed to go off, and he was arrested trying to leave the country on a Dubai-bound flight two days later.
Shahzad started talking about the botched bombing right away - a pattern that continued in open court, where he agreed to plead guilty to 10 terrorism and weapons counts.
Shahzad traced his plot to a 2009 trip to Pakistan.
During the trip, he said he sought and received five days' training in explosives from the Pakistani Taliban before returning to the US in February to pursue a one-man scheme to bring death and destruction to New York.
He explained that he loaded his vehicle with three bomb components. He also revealed he was carrying a folding assault rifle in a laptop computer case for "self-defense."
Authorities say the bomb malfunctioned, emitting smoke that attracted the attention of a street vendor, who notified police.
Shahzad told the court: "I am part of the answer to the US terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people. And, on behalf of that, I'm avenging the attack."
He will be sentenced in October.
He was so eager to tell how he plotted to kill Americans in New York's Times Square, he went to court with a prepared statement.
But Judge Miriam Cedarbaum refused to hear him read it on Monday, instead challenging the Pakistan-born American citizen to just say "what happened."
"One has to understand where I'm coming from," he said, with his defense attorney and prosecutors sitting in silence in the Manhattan court. "I consider myself a Muslim soldier."
Shahzad, 30, admitted leaving an SUV rigged with a homemade bomb in Times Square on the night of May 1. The bomb failed to go off, and he was arrested trying to leave the country on a Dubai-bound flight two days later.
Shahzad started talking about the botched bombing right away - a pattern that continued in open court, where he agreed to plead guilty to 10 terrorism and weapons counts.
Shahzad traced his plot to a 2009 trip to Pakistan.
During the trip, he said he sought and received five days' training in explosives from the Pakistani Taliban before returning to the US in February to pursue a one-man scheme to bring death and destruction to New York.
He explained that he loaded his vehicle with three bomb components. He also revealed he was carrying a folding assault rifle in a laptop computer case for "self-defense."
Authorities say the bomb malfunctioned, emitting smoke that attracted the attention of a street vendor, who notified police.
Shahzad told the court: "I am part of the answer to the US terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people. And, on behalf of that, I'm avenging the attack."
He will be sentenced in October.
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