US counterterrorism officials have linked one of the nation’s most wanted terrorists to last year’s thwarted plot to bomb the New York City subway system, authorities said on Wednesday.
Current and former counterterrorism officials said top al-Qaeda operative Adnan Shukrijumah with one of the would-be suicide bombers in a plot that Attorney General Eric Holder called one of the most dangerous since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have named Shukrijumah in a draft terrorism indictment but on Wednesday the Justice Department was still discussing whether to cite his role. Some officials feared that the extra attention might hinder efforts to capture him.
Shukrijumah’s involvement shows how important the subway bombing plot was to al-Qaeda’s senior leadership.
Intelligence officials believe Shukrijumah is one of the top candidates to become al-Qaeda’s next head of external operations, the man in charge of planning attacks worldwide.
Current and former counterterrorism officials discussed the case on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it.
Shukrijumah, 34, has eluded the FBI for years. The Saudi-born terrorist studied at a community college in Florida, but when the FBI showed up to arrest him as a material witness in a terrorism case in 2003, he had already left the country. The US is offering a US$5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Intelligence officials began unraveling the subway plot last year, when US intelligence intercepted an e-mail from an account that al-Qaeda had used in a recent terrorist plot, officials said.
The e-mail discussed bomb-making techniques and was sent to an address in Denver, setting off alarms within the CIA and FBI from Islamabad to the US.
Najibullah Zazi and two friends were arrested in September before, prosecutors said, they could carry out a trio of suicide bombings in Manhattan.
Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay have pleaded guilty and admitted planning to detonate homemade bombs on the subway during rush hour. A third man, Adis Medunjanin, awaits trial.
A fourth suspect, a midlevel al-Qaeda operative known as Ahmed, traded the e-mails with Zazi, who was frantically trying to perfect his bomb making recipe, officials said.
The US wants to bring the Pakistani man to the US for trial on charges that have not yet been made public. The CIA learned valuable information about al-Qaeda and its operations from Ahmed.
Pakistani officials have also arrested a fifth person, known as Afridi, who worked with Ahmed, officials said.
The FBI and US attorney’s office in Brooklyn had no comment on Wednesday.
The meeting with Shukrijumah is among many new details officials revealed about how the men hooked up with al-Qaeda.
The new account provides a rare glimpse into al-Qaeda’s recruiting process.
The trio’s odyssey took them from their homes in Queens to the mountainous, lawless frontier in northwest Pakistan, the front line of the US war on terrorism.
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
TICKING CLOCK: A path to a budget agreement was still possible, the president’s office said, as a debate on reversing an increase of the pension age carries on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was racing to find a new prime minister within a two-day deadline after the resignation of outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu tipped the country deeper into political crisis. The presidency late on Wednesday said that Macron would name a new prime minister within 48 hours, indicating that the appointment would come by this evening at the latest. Lecornu told French television in an interview that he expected a new prime minister to be named — rather than early legislative elections or Macron’s resignation — to resolve the crisis. The developments were the latest twists in three tumultuous
IN THE AIR: With no compromise on the budget in sight, more air traffic controllers are calling in sick, which has led to an estimated 13,000 flight delays, the FAA said Concerns over flight delays and missed paychecks due to the US government shutdown escalated on Wednesday, as senators rejected yet another bid to end the standoff. Democrats voted for a sixth time to block a Republican stopgap funding measure to reopen government departments, keeping much of the federal workforce home or working without pay. With the shutdown in its eighth day, lines at airports were expected to grow amid increased absenteeism among security and safety staff at some of the country’s busiest hubs. Air traffic controllers — seen as “essential” public servants — are kept at work during government shutdowns, but higher numbers
RSS