New York: An Afghan immigrant, who admitted of being part of a foiled terror plot to bomb New York's subways and stock exchanges, said he had travelled with two other men to Pakistan where they received training at an al-Qaeda camp and returned to the US to carry out the attacks.
Najibullah Zazi, 26, appeared in court to testify at the terrorism trial of his high school classmate Adis Medunjanin, accused of helping him in the plot.
A third person, Afghan immigrant Zarein Ahmedzay, who had travelled with the two to Pakistan to receive terror training, has pleaded guilty.
Medunjanin is a Bosnian immigrant who came to the US in 1994 and became a naturalised US citizen in 2002.
During the ongoing trial of Medunjanin, the only one of the three who has pleaded not guilty, Zazi said he had travelled with the two to Pakistan with the intention to "do jihad" with the Taliban against American soldiers.
Zazi told the court details about their radicalisation in Pakistan, training in bomb-making and efforts to execute a suicide attack that federal officials have described as among the most dangerous plots since September 11, the New York Times said.
Zazi said he and his two friends from Flushing High School in Queens became upset with US military interventions in the Middle East.
He harboured feelings that the US government was responsible for the World Trade Centre attacks and decided to travel to Afghanistan by way of Pakistan to fight against American troops.
When they failed to cross over the Afghan border, they were offered training at an al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan.
"We looked at each other," Zazi said. "We paused. We said there can't be a better offer than this."
During the training, they studied Islam, learned how to operate high-powered weapons and received advice about targets.
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