Podcast

Times Square bomber pleads guilty with vigor

Updated: 2010-06-23 13:07

 

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A Pakistani-born American citizen defiantly pleaded guilty on Monday to attempting to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square, saying that Islamist extremists would continue to attack the United States.

Faisal Shahzad, 30, admitted traveling to Pakistan to receive bomb-making training from the Pakistani Taliban and receiving $12,000 from the group to carry out the failed plot on May 1.

Shahzad, who has a wife and two children living in Pakistan, pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted terrorism transcending national borders. He faces life in prison.

"I'm going to plead guilty 100 times over," Shahzad told the court. Until the United States stops drone aircraft attacks and the occupation of "Muslim lands," Shahzad said "we will be attacking the United States and I will plead guilty to that."

Shahzad awkwardly parked a sports utility vehicle in Times Square with its engine running and hazard lights flashing last month. Street vendors alerted police to the smoking vehicle within minutes and thousands of people were evacuated from the popular theater district. A New York police bomb squad defused the crude device, which included firecrackers and propane gas tanks.

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing. CIA-operated drones have targeted Taliban figures in Pakistan's tribal areas and the group has vowed to avenge missile strikes that have killed some of its leaders.

Shahzad, the son of a retired Pakistani vice air marshal, was arrested aboard a Dubai-bound jetliner at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after the attempted attack. He had been on his way back to Pakistan.

Wearing a white prayer cap and handcuffed, Shahzad, who lived in the neighboring state of Connecticut and became a US citizen last year, was arraigned in a packed courtroom.

He cooperated with authorities after his arrest, officials have said.

Shahzad, a former budget analyst who worked for a marketing firm in Connecticut, came from a relatively privileged background that offered no hints of radicalism.

Questions:

1. What tourist attraction did Faisal Shahzad attempt to bomb?

2. How much did he receive to carry out the plot?

3. Where did he live in the US?

Answers:

1. New York’s Times Square.

2. $12,000.

3. Connecticut.

（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.