Feds: Suspect Had Contact With Al-Qaeda Bigwig

Airport shuttle driver points finger at US actions in Afghanistan

(AP) - A former Denver airport shuttle driver today admitted to a plot to bomb the New York City subways, saying he was recruited by al-Qaeda in Pakistan for a "martyrdom plan" against the US. Najibullah Zazi, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support for a terrorist organization. He faces a life prison sentence without parole at a sentencing in June. More»

(AP) - Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists' desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes, and hotels, the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York. In the two bulletins—sent to police departments yesterday and obtained by the AP—officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites, but urged law enforcement and private companies to be vigilant. More»

Adis Medunjanin faces life in prison

(NEWSER) - A New York man has been found guilty in a 2009 subway bomb plot . Adis Medunjanin, who was also convicted of training with al-Qaeda and seeking to join the Taliban, could receive life in prison, the New York Daily News reports. The conviction comes after fellow plotters Zarein Ahmedzay and Najibullah Zazi , who attended high school with Medunjanin, testified against him. The trio traveled to Pakistan in 2008, where they trained with al-Qaeda and were sent home to launch an attack. More»

Documents reveal al-Qaeda leader also wanted Petraeus dead

(NEWSER) - Documents taken from Osama bin Laden's compound during the US raid that killed the al-Qaeda leader reveal a plot to kill President Obama and David Petraeus. David Ignatius got a look at the documents, which will be available to the public soon, and he reports in the Washington Post that bin Laden wanted his network to focus on attacks in America, rather than operations inside Muslim countries, and he specifically instructed attacks on Obama's and Petraeus's aircraft. The way he saw it, "killing [Obama] automatically will make [Vice President Joe] Biden take over the presidency. … Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis." More»

Fingerprint, forensics link Ibrahim al-Asiri to underwear bomber, cargo bombs

(NEWSER) - The FBI has now definitively linked top al-Qaeda bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri to a trio of explosives used in two recent attempts to attack the US, via a fingerprint and forensic evidence. Al-Asiri, who works in Yemen with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was already suspected of being involved with the Christmas Day “underwear bomber” in 2009; investigators have pulled one of his fingerprints off that bomb. They also determined that the explosives used in the underwear bomb are chemically identical to those hidden inside two printers shipped from Yemen last year; al-Asiri had also been suspected in that plot. More»