Abid Naseer, 28, who was arrested in 2009 in Manchester, England, where he had been living on a student visa, was described by Brooklyn federal prosecutor Celia Cohen as a “key member” of a broad scheme to “take innocent lives” during a series of failed attacks at a Manchester shopping center, a newsroom in Copenhagen and the subways of New York.
Naseer, who is representing himself at trial, was flanked by a pair of U.S. Marshals as he delivered an opening statement. He called the charges false and said he went to Pakistan not to meet with al Qaeda operatives but to see his mother after she had bypass surgery.
Naseer was allegedly named in paperwork found in the walled and fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden, the former leader of al Qaeda, was killed in 2011 by a group of U.S. forces, including Navy SEALs, according to Cohen.
–
Naseer’s 2009 arrest in England was part of a massive sweep in connection with an alleged plot to carry out bomb attacks in Britain. He was extradited in January 2013.
CNN’s Laura Ly contributed to this story.
