British intelligence intercepted an email between an Afghan living in the U.S. named Najibullah Zazi and a senior member of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, allowing for an attack on the New York City subway system to be foiled, reports The Telegraph.  Zazi had previously traveled to Pakistan where he is thought to have been trained by terrorists.

Upon his arrest in September, U.S. authorities found that Zazi's laptop contained instructions on bomb making, and found batteries potentially for explosives in his possession along with chemicals similar to those used in the 2005 bombings in London. The ingredients were bought using stolen credit cards. The authorities also found a phone containing footage of Grand Central Station.

The British intercepted the message between Zazi and the Pakistani Al-Qaeda member by noticing that an e-mail address connected to a previous plot disrupted in the spring was re-activated. In that plot, 11 Pakistanis were arrested by the British authorities.

Two other individuals were arrested along with Zazi, including an imam accused of tipping off one of the suspects about the FBI asking questions about him, and then lying to the FBI about it. The Examiner reported that the Zazi planned for the attack to coincide with the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The New York Daily News also reported at the time that Zazi's laptop showed that he also researched other locations in New York including football stadiums and sites where Fashion Week events were being held in Manhattan.