By Basil Katz
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The man accused of trying to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square on May 1 pleaded guilty Monday to terrorism-related charges.
Pakistani-born Faisal Shahzad, who became a U.S. citizen last year, was indicted in Manhattan federal court Thursday on 10 charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted terrorism transcending national borders.
Shahzad, 30, is accused of parking a vehicle containing a crude car bomb in Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. He was arrested aboard a Dubai-bound jetliner two days later that was minutes from leaving New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Shahzad was arraigned Monday by U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum in a packed courtroom.
He faces life in prison and has been cooperating with authorities since he was arrested, officials said.
Prosecutors said Shahzad, who has a wife and two children in Pakistan, had travelled to a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan to receive bomb-making training.
The Pakistani Taliban, called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing.
Shahzad lived in the neighbouring state of Connecticut and had returned recently to the United States after spending several months in Pakistan.
Several people have been arrested in Pakistan in the case and U.S. authorities carried out raids in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maine, detaining several people on immigration charges.
The indictment said that Shahzad received $5,000 in Massachusetts in February sent from an unnamed co-conspirator who he believed worked with the Pakistani Taliban. He received a further $7,000 in April in New York, according to the indictment.
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Cynthia Osterman)
