Attack plans revealed in terror trial: ‘Focus on killing the American people’
Chilling communiques between Osama bin Laden and his deputies about plans for attacking the White House, Statue of Liberty and “America’s heartland” were revealed for the first time Wednesday in the Brooklyn federal court trial of an accused al Qaeda terror plotter.
Spewing hate for America and plans to unleash terror operations in England, Russia and Europe, the chilling missives — gathered from the terror chieftain’s Pakistan lair after Navy SEALs gunned him down in 2011 — were introduced by federal prosecutors in the case of Abid Naseer.
“Here we are today, praise be to God, watching the faltering of the United States and its allies,” wrote underling Saleh al-Somali in a briefing to his boss bin Laden in 2009.
“By God, we shall not stop by his will, except at the doorsteps of the White House and to raise the banner of monotheism on their so-called Statue of Liberty.”
The deputy addressed bin Laden with absolute devotion and love. “May God protect him, look after him and make paradise his final resting place,” the letter reads. Al-Somali wrote that he longed to be in the presence of his “enlightened face and radiant smile.”
Other letters between top al Qaeda bosses stressed the need to hit American targets.
“Striking America in its heartland has the most significance and is an essential part of reaching our objectives,” read one letter seized during the historic raid that felled the man responsible for 9/11.
“We have to focus on killing and fighting the American people,” the document exhorts, citing as justification “oppressive wars that put immense pressure on Muslim nations especially in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.”
Other papers urged al Qaeda foot soldiers to be creative in orchestrating terror attacks and to use plain items like “household knives” and “gas cans” in concocting their lethal plots. “We have many brothers who are ready to work for us anywhere. Brothers have faced a lack of tools. We have to invent new methods of execution,” the letter stated.
The feds maintain that the memo from al-Somali to Bin Laden refers to Naseer, charged with plotting to bomb a Manchester shopping center as part of a global ring that also targeted New York’s subway system and a Danish newspaper.
“We had sent a number of brothers to Britain and Russia and Europe on condition that their mission and work would be completed before the end of the year.”
Prosecutors said that the reference to England alluded to Naseer’s plot to bomb the mall and that the letter later refers to his arrest.
“As far as I know, the brothers didn’t face any security problems other than…the arrest of several individuals in Britain,” the letter reads. “We have not ascertained if these had any connection to us.”
Naseer, who is representing himself, has adamantly denied any al Qaeda connections and claims that he was swept up in an overzealous fishing expedition.
British officials declined to prosecute him because of a lack of evidence.
Naseer took the stand in his own defense Wednesday and rejected the theory that he was a crazed al Qaeda terrorist.
“I wanted people to hear my voice and hear my story,” he said of his decision to serve as his own lawyer.
Telling jurors that he went to college in his native Pakistan on a cricket scholarship, Naseer said he enjoyed living in the West and rejected violent extremism.
“Do you believe terrorism is compatible with Islam?” asked his legal adviser James Neuman. “No, terrorism is not compatible with Islam,” he replied.
His turn on the stand will continue Thursday.
nypost.com