As for alleged connections to terrorist organizations, prosecutors accused him of receiving training in Pakistan’s Waziristan tribal region in December 2009 and knowingly receiving funds from someone he believed was part of the Tehrik-e-Taleban, Pakistan’s main umbrella movement for the Taleban.
“The facts alleged in this indictment show that the Pakistani Taleban facilitated Faisal Shahzad’s attempted attack on American soil,” US Attorney General Eric Holder said late Thursday. “Our nation averted serious loss of life in this attempted bombing, but it is a reminder that we face an evolving threat that we must continue to fight with every tool available to the government.”
Holder previously said that Shahzad admitted his role in the bombing attempt and cooperated with authorities after his arrest. Shahzad allegedly told officials that he tried to detonate the improvised bomb in the SUV and tried to flee the US after the failed attack.
Prosecutors also allege that Faisal also wanted to attack Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal and the World Financial Center in New York City, as well as facilities belonging to the Connecticut helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky
In the indictment, prosecutors added five new charges to their case against 30-year-old Shahzad, including conspiracy counts and an attempted act of terrorism transcending national borders.
He was also charged with criminal possession of a 9mm Kel-Tec rifle, which was found loaded in his car the day of his arrest.
Shahzad has been held without bail since appearing before a federal magistrate on May 18, when he was assigned a lawyer.
Shahzad, who is Pakistani-American, is expected back in Manhattan court on Monday for an arraignment.
Prosecutors allege that Shahzad received financing to carry out the attack, including about $5,000 on Feb. 25 from an unidentified co- conspirator in Massachusetts who Shahzad “understood worked for Tehrik-e-Taleban,”
Shahzad also allegedly received another $7,000 on April 10, according to the indictment’s court papers. That money was sent at the unidentified co-conspirator’s direction, prosecutors said. Shahzad bought a prepaid cellular telephone on April 16 and a Nissan Pathfinder on April 24.
He was arrested on May 3 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after boarding a flight to Dubai.
Shahzad is scheduled to appear in court on June 21 to be arraigned before US District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum in Manhattan, prosecutors said in the statement.
