Shoe bomb suspect to plead guilty

BOSTON -- Richard Reid, the man accused of trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes, plans to plead guilty to attempted murder and all other charges against him, his attorney said Wednesday.

Attorney Owen Walker said Reid wanted to avoid the publicity of a trial and the negative impact it would have on his family.

Reid faces up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges. His attorney said Reid "has no disagreement with the facts" asserted in the charges.

In his court filing, Reid said he would admit to all eight counts against him, but asked the court to remove language from two of the charges alleging he received training from al-Qaida. Reid earlier lost a bid to remove the same language from the indictment against him.

The motion does not say a guilty plea is contingent upon the al-Qaida references being stricken. Walker declined comment on the issue.

In Washington, Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said Reid acted on his own and has no plea agreement with the government. Prosecutors also filed a pleading that opposed removal of any language from the indictment.

"We are prepared to go on trial Nov. 4," Sierra said. "There's no cooperation involved here."

Reid, a 28-year-old British citizen, is accused of attempting to kill the 197 passengers and crew members aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22. He was overpowered by flight attendants and passengers, and the flight was diverted to Boston.

Authorities said each shoe contained a plastic explosive often used by terrorists. They said the homemade bombs could easily have ripped a hole in the plane if Reid had successfully ignited them.

The indictment said Reid "received training from al-Qaida in Afghanistan," but it provided no other details about Reid's alleged ties to the network.

The FBI has said it believes Reid had help making the bomb from "an al-Qaida bomb maker," and have cited unidentified human hair and a palm print found on the explosives. Reid insisted to FBI investigators that he acted alone.

In statements to law enforcement after his arrest, Reid said he acted because of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan and that he hoped his planned attack would cause Americans to stop traveling, leading to a downturn in the economy, prosecutors said.

Reid also told the FBI he was driven by anger over the treatment of Muslims in Israel, according to transcripts of the interrogations. He said he traveled in 2001 to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque, and was angered to see "Jews with guns" inside.

"His trip to Jerusalem further emboldened him to act against the west when he witnessed the many checkpoints and travel restrictions on Muslims," one transcript says.

Asked why he didn't choose to attack Israel, Reid told investigators: "America is the problem, without America there would be no Israel." He also said he was worried Palestinian groups would be too paranoid to trust him.

The FBI said it searched Reid's e-mail accounts and found one in which he described a duty to "remove the oppressive American forces from the Muslim land."

"What I am doing is part of the ongoing war between Islaam and disbelief," he wrote to his mother in the message two days before his arrest.

Reid converted to Islam while in prison for petty crimes. He later worshipped at the same London mosque as Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been charged with conspiracy in the Sept. 11 attacks.