NEW YORK, March 4 (UPI) -- A jury in New York on Wednesday found a suspected al-Qaida member guilty of supporting terrorism and conspiracy in a plot to bomb a British shopping center in 2009.
Abid Naseer, 28, of Pakistan, represented himself in U.S. district court on charges of supporting terrorism and conspiracy.
Prosecutors argued Naseer was trained in a terror camp in Pakistan then sent to Britain to help coordinate an attack on a Manchester shopping center. He kept in touch with an al-Qaida handler through email using codewords meant to make it look like he was planning a wedding with his girlfriend.
Najibullah Zazi, who pleaded guilty to helping plot an al-Qaida attack on the New York City subway system, testified Naseer was emailing the same al-Qaida operative he was in contact with.
Naseer insisted his email messages were not coded and he had no involvement with or strong opinion about al-Qaida.
Britain extradited Naseer to the United States because the country didn't have enough evidence to try him. The United States was able to prosecute him under a law that allows the country to do so even if a crime takes place on foreign land.
Naseer faces life in prison for the conviction.
