A Yemeni member of the terrorist group Al-Qaida who is accused of terrorism and recruiting Americans to join the group pleaded guilty. He was also responsible for constructing a plan against Long Island Rail Road.
According to Long Island Press, in a federal court in Brooklyn, Ali Alvi al-Hamidi admitted that he traveled to Pakistan in 2008 to gain military training from the terrorist group and was battling alongside the Taliban against the US forces. The 31-year-old Al-Hamidi together with another Yemeni recruit had been in jail in Saudi Arabia before being tried in the US last year to face the charges that they worked with the terrorist group to supply materials and execute Americans. It was Neil Vinas, a native of Long Island, who gave the vital information to the authorities when he was caught last year.
The three recruits became close friends as they live together in the same safehouse. Al-Hamidi soon introduced Vinas also known as Ibrahim or Bashir al-Ameriki to the senior members of the Al-Qaida. Later, the members agreed to give Ibrahim weapons and other training materials that he needed. During the course of time, the leaders of the terror group view Vinas as a valuable asset due to his passport as an American and know how's of the transit system and other vulnerable targets in the United States as reported by Fox News.
During the 2012 trial, Vinas testified on how he suggested to Al-Qaida the plan to plant bombs and placed it inside a travel bag utilizing the Long Island Rail Road train or use a television as a ploy and return it to a Wal-Mart store. He even stated that an attack to a popular retail outlet would hit the economy tremendously, but the plan was never executed says ABC News.
US Attorney Robert Capers stated that the plea showed an unwavering commitment by the United States and its authorities to give justice to those who go against the US forces or even aid the terrorist group or others who plans to kill Americans at home or abroad.
