Adis Medunjanin, 28, was convicted Tuesday of conspiring to bomb the New York City subways, and he was eventually nabbed in a high-stakes chase that lasted only a few days. According to court documents, an associate of Medunjanin named Najibullah Zazi, 24—they pledged allegiance to al Qaeda at the same New York City mosque—first tipped authorities off to a possible plot in September 2009 when he emailed an alleged handler for al Qaeda from a computer in Denver. Zazi left Denver on Sept. 8, driving cross-country to New York, with U.S. national-security agents on his trail. Port Authority agents stopped Zazi, but let him go—but he panicked anyway, telling Medunjanin “we are done.” Zazi was arrested shortly after arriving in Denver, and the FBI arrested Medunjanin and another former classmate of theirs, Zarein Ahmedzay, in January 2010.
After less than two days of deliberation, a jury on Tuesday convicted Adis Medunjanin, 28, of Queens N.Y., of conspiracy and terrorism charges in connection with a planned suicide bombing attack on the New York City subway system in 2009. He faces mandatory life in prison when he's sentenced Sept. 7, officials said. An appeal of the conviction is expected.
Officials said they'd foiled one of the most serious terror plots since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon near Washington ushered in the age of Islamic terrorism aimed at the United States. Those attacks also brought the U.S. response, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and continuing battles to keep Americans safe from a variety of foreign-inspired attacks, such as Medunhjanin’s plot and those involving explosives hidden in the shoes or underwear of suicide terrorists.
“I want to commend prosecutors for the conviction of Adis Medunjanin,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly stated. “His conviction stands as a stark reminder of terrorists' desire long after 9/11 to return to the city to kill more New Yorkers.”
“Adis Medunjanin was an active and willing participant in one of the most serious terrorist plots against the homeland since 9/11. Were it not for the combined efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, the suicide bomb attacks that he and others planned would have been devastating,” Lisa Monaco, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a prepared statement.
Medunjanin was born in Bosnia but raised in Queens. Former classmates Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, who testified as part of a plea deal, told the jury how the trio became radicalized and sought terror training. They went to Pakistan in 2008 to learn how to take revenge on the United States for its invasion of Afghanistan.
“Adis Medunjanin’s journey of radicalization led him from Flushing, Queens, to Peshawar, Pakistan, to the brink of a terrorist attack in New York City – and soon to a lifetime in federal prison,” said U.S. Atty. Loretta E. Lynch, whose office handled the prosecution.
It was in the training areas in the south Waziristan region of Pakistan that Al Qaeda encouraged the men to go back to the United States and carry out a suicide mission that would spread fear and damage the economy. Among the targets discussed were the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal and movie theaters, the men testified.
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