New York ( CNN ) -- A would-be terrorist , who previously confessed to planning a subway suicide bomb attack , described in court on Tuesday how he and two high school friends planned to wreak havoc in New York City . Najibullah Zazi , the mastermind of the 2009 plot , testified Tuesday against alleged co-conspirator Adis Medunjanin , who is the sole member of trio on trial . The third man in the group , Zerein Ahmedzay , had earlier pleaded guilty in the plot . Medunjanin , a Bosnian immigrant who traveled with the two friends to Pakistan where they allegedly sought terrorist training , is among those accused of devising the scheme . `` What makes this plot stand out is it 's alleged it was an al Qaeda plot that went right to the top levels of the al Qaeda terrorist organization , '' said CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank , who said U.S. law enforcement only caught on to the scheme `` late in the day . '' Zazi testified Tuesday that Medunjanin had provided him with audio recordings of terrorist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki promoting jihad . He testified that he wanted to enlist in the Taliban `` before they win and America leaves , I should go and be a part of it . '' `` My understanding was they wanted me to carry out a martyrdom operation , '' Zazi testified . The three initially resisted , he said . `` We talked amongst ourselves , looked at each other and said no , '' only to later begin their planning . During opening statements Monday , a federal prosecutor described Medunjanin as an `` al Qaeda terrorist , '' an assertion the defense said was `` just wrong . '' Prosecutors allege Medunjanin and the two others eventually hatched a plan to rig backpacks with explosives and blow them up on New York subway stations . Ahmedzay , an immigrant from Afghanistan , and Zazi , an immigrant from Pakistan , have already pleaded guilty to the same charges . February 2010 : Zazi pleads guilty in plot . `` In September of 2009 , three men were prepared to strap bombs to their bodies and go into crowded subways , '' Assistant U.S. Attorney James Loonam told jurors in his opening statement Monday . `` These men were al Qaeda terrorists , '' Loonam claimed . Angry at the presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq , the three went to Pakistan 's tribal belt -- `` the center of al Qaeda activity against the United States '' -- to join the terrorist group , according to Loonam . Once there , the federal prosecutor said , the men were given `` special treatment '' and `` private training by al Qaeda '' because of their coveted status as U.S. citizens . In his opening statement , defense attorney Robert Gottlieb accused the prosecution of using incendiary rhetoric to inflame the jury . `` These are all words the government knows will scare you beyond belief and shake you to the core , '' Gottlieb said of terms such as `` terrorist '' and `` al Qaeda . '' `` The truth is Adis Medunjanin is not a terrorist . ... In this case , the government is just wrong . '' Later Monday , Ahmedzay took the stand and described how his former high school classmate Medunjanin turned him on to the teaching of al-Awlaki . The American-born Muslim cleric was targeted and killed in a September 2011 drone attack in Yemen . Medunjanin 's trial is expected to last three weeks .
Accused terrorist Ali Ali 's trial continues with a key statement . Prosecutors say he and two others were trained by al Qaeda in Pakistan . They planned to detonate bombs on New York City , they say . A defense lawyer contends that ` ` the government is just wrong ''