NEFA Report – The New York, Denver Terror Plot Arrests

This NEFA Foundation report, “Target: America”, provides details on Najibullah Zazi’s activities prior to his arrest and sheds light on why this case is considered by many experts to be the most significant terrorist plot on U.S. soil since 9/11.

The investigation into a plot to detonate explosive devices in the United States led by Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi and three yet-to-be-named accomplices is ongoing. To date, only three individuals have been arrested in connection with this case.

Only one, Najibullah Zazi, appears to be implicated in an operational capacity. Two others, Bosnian immigrant Adis Mendunjanin, and New York City cab driver Zarein Ahmedzay, have been questioned, but have not been arrested.1 A childhood acquaintance of Zazi’s, Naiz Khan, with whom Zazi stayed when he traveled to New York in September, is reported to be under surveillance in connection with the plot.

This is the most advanced U.S.-based plot since 9/11 that is said to be tied to Al-Qaida. According to media reports, high-ranking Al-Qaida operative Mustafa Abu al-Yazid3 used a middle man to contact Zazi.4 Although we have seen Al-Qaida-linked individuals in the U.S. engage in terrorist-related activities such as Iyman Ferris who surveilled the Brooklyn Bridge while in contact with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed5 we have not seen a fully operational plot in which operatives received direct training from Al-Qaida.

Read The Full Report

2 More Questioned in Alleged New York Terror Plot

Fox news reports Federal investigators questioned two men whose photographs were shown to a Muslim religious leader along with a picture of an Afghan immigrant accused of plotting a bomb attack in New York City.

According to the report, Adis Medunjanin, a Bosnian immigrant, met voluntarily with investigators for 14 hours, said Robert Gottlieb, a New York lawyer representing him. Zarein Ahmedzay, a 24-year-old New York City cab driver, also was interviewed by the FBI, said his brother, Nazir Ahmedzay.

From Fox News

Both men’s photos were among four shown to Ahmad Wais Afzali, an imam at a Queens mosque accused of tipping off Najibullah Zazi that New York Police Department detectives were searching for him.

via Source.

NYC Terror Plot: FBI Investigation Knocks On Reporter’s Door

An ABC New reporter was surprised to return home from a recent news assignment and find an FBI agent’s card at her door. She quickly discovered that an alert public and thorough FBI investigation is casting a wide net to protect the nation from future terror attacks and locate anyone who may have been involved in the recent New York terror case.

From ABC News

My taxi driver waited for an hour in nearly deserted parking lots while I questioned store employees to make sure I was getting exactly what was on my list, down to the color, shape of the bottle and volume of each item. With the help of a very attentive employee at Sally Beauty Supply I was able to purchase everything we needed. I paid with an ABC News corporate credit card.

The next evening, after a long week at work, I trudged up to the top floor of my Brooklyn brownstone ready to relax. As I fumbled for my keys I noticed a business card tucked between my door and the frame with a hand written note that read, “Please give me a call. You may have witnessed a crime. We need 10 minutes of your time. Thank you. (over) –>”. When I flipped the card over, I was shocked by the information: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Bomb Technician.

via Read Full Article.

Alleged US Terror Plot Among The Most Serious – Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder made it clear, the recently disrupted New York terror / bombing plot represented one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks,  said on Tuesday. When asked about whether there would be more arrests and others charged, Holder replied, “It is our intention to bring all those involved in the plot to justice” and “the investigation is ongoing.”

From Reuters
“I can say the investigation is pretty far along. We have a pretty good handle who was involved and what was intended,” Holder told a news briefing.

“This alleged plot was one of the most serious terrorist threats to our country since September 11, 2001.”

An Afghan immigrant, Najibullah Zazi, was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of plotting to explode bombs in the United States. Zazi, who is being held without bail, has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Zazi took a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, had notes on how to make explosives his laptop computer and acquired materials similar to those used in bomb attacks in London in 2005, buying acetone and hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply stores.

Holder said the plot, if it had been successful, could have killed “scores” of Americans, based on the chemicals involved, the history of similar plots and the number of people suspected of being involved.

The FBI has had under surveillance other suspects it believes may have helped Zazi acquire the chemicals and consulted with him on how to make explosives.

via Read Full Article.

Sources: Several Who Traveled With Alleged Terror Suspect, Back In US

There’s not a lot of detail yet however CNN is reporting that several associates who traveled from New York to Pakistan last year with alleged terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, have since returned to the United States.

A grand jury is said to be hearing evidence in the case but there is nothing to indicate whether additional charges will be filed against Zazi or any others.

From CNN

Prosecutors allege that on August 28, 2008, Zazi and others flew to Peshawar, Pakistan, a city with a strong Taliban and al Qaeda presence.

Those currently under surveillance in the United States include members of Zazi’s travel group, according to one source familiar with the investigation. Another source said at least some of the travel group are back in the United States. Officials will not discuss the identity, number or location of those under surveillance.

One of those under round-the-clock surveillance is Queens, New York, resident Naiz Khan. He and Zazi were friends as teenagers and Zazi stayed at Khan’s rented apartment on September 10 after driving to New York from Denver.

Khan said he has been caught up in the investigation by a series of coincidences. One was that he happened to meet Zazi at a local mosque hours after Zazi arrived in New York last month and offered him a place to stay. He said another coincidence was that he had flown back to the United States from Pakistan on the same day as Zazi: January 15.

via Sources: Several who went to Pakistan with Zazi back in U.S. – CNN.com.

Intel Agencies Go Through ‘Hot Wash’ of Terror Investigation

Time magazine takes a look at the New York terror investigation and the ongoing analysis of what worked in the investigation, what didn’t and what aspects need continued focus and exploration.

From Time

In military and intelligence parlance, it’s called a “hot wash” – an instant review of an operation, evaluating what worked, what didn’t, and how to make the next one better. With the case against U.S.-based terror suspect Najibullah Zazi now in Federal court, many of the agencies involved in the investigation, from the FBI to the police forces of Denver and New York, are retracing their steps.

“[What] we are doing now is asking ourselves why didn’t we know about this earlier,” says a senior Administration official. “Could we have known about this earlier? Could we improve our already very strong ability to identify and stop these types of activities early on?”

(Afghanistan-born Zazi has pleaded not guilty to the charge of plotting a terrorist attack; his next court date is Dec 3.)

Simultaneous to the hot washes, investigators are sifting through the evidence gathered to clear up some remaining gray areas in the case.

There are four areas of special interest:

1.The Afghan angle

2. Where the trail began.

3. Did the New York Police Department screw up?

4. The co-conspirators

Read Full Article

NY Alleged Terror Suspect Zazi Indicted For Conspiring To Detonate WMD

How serious is the New York Terror threat the FBI is investigating?  Consider This: CBS 2 is reporting, Najibullah Zazi, the Denver man believed to be the central figure in a terror plot against the New York City transit system, has officially been indicted on charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property in the United States.

In addition,  WCBS  reports the FBI is expanding its investigation into the alleged terror plot and nearly every one of the FBI’s 57 field offices in the country and several overseas are now in on the case, working along with local police.

Very serious.

Read Article

See The Zazi Indictment

Zazi Detention Order

The Denver Post provides a detailed summary of the indictment and the evidence that led to it.

In the Denver Post report, (citing the detention order) it states Najibullah Zazi plotted for over a year to detonate homemade hydrogen peroxide bombs in the United States, had recently bought bomb-making supplies from beauty supply stores and was looking for “urgent” help in the past two weeks to make explosives.

[...]

In July and August, Zazi bought unusually large amounts of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply stores in the Denver metropolitan area, the document says. He searched the Internet for home improvement stores in Queens before driving a rental car for a two-day trip to the city, the document says.

[...]

The document says that on Sept. 6 and 7, Zazi tried to communicate with another individual “seeking to correct mixtures of ingredients to make explosives.” “Each communication,” the papers say, was “more urgent than the last.” On those days, Zazi rented a suite at a hotel in his hometown of Aurora, Colo., authorities charge. The room had a kitchen, and subsequent FBI testing for explosives and residue in the suite found the presence of residue in the vent above the stove.

Read Article

Terror Suspect Had Bomb Guide, Handwritten Notes

The central figure in what authorities describe as a widening inquiry into a possible plot to detonate explosives in the United States had been trained in weapons and explosives in Pakistan and, according to court papers released Sunday, had made nine pages of handwritten notes on how to make and handle bombs.

The court papers, released after the arrests in Colorado of Najibullah Zazi and his father, as well as that of an imam in Queens, showed that during a search in New York of the younger Mr. Zazi’s rental car on Sept. 11, agents found a laptop computer containing an image of the notes. According to a criminal complaint, the notes “contain formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of initiating explosives, main explosives charges, explosives detonators and components of a fusing system.”

Read Full Article – NYTimes.com.

Najibullah Zazi, Alleged Terror Plot Suspect Arrested By FBI

Fox31 reports an arrest has been made in the FBI terror case that involves Aurora resident Najibullah Zazi. At 9:30 p.m. 15 to 20 law enforcement cars swarmed into the parking lot of Zazi’s Aurora apartment near E. Smokey hill road and E-470.

Both Zazi and his father were removed from the apartment in handcuffs. Authorities have not indicated what the two men are being charged with. Earlier in the evening Zazi’s lawyer spokesperson Wendy Aiello told FOX 31 “we have not been contacted by the FBI.”

Najibullah Zazi was supposed to report to the Federal Building in Denver Saturday morning but opted not to for unclear reasons.

Read Full Article Fox31

From CNN Wire

CNN is reporting FBI agents late Saturday arrested Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Colorado resident and Afghan national suspected in an alleged terrorist plot in the United States. The report says the arrest came as authorities raided Zazi’s home in Aurora Colorado

Source‘

9News In Colorado Reports:

The FBI has arrested Najibullah Zazi and his father at their apartment. The arrests happened at about 9:40 p.m. Saturday night. NBC justice correspondent Pete Williams tells 9NEWS that the charges will not likely be terrorism charges but may be a lesser charge that involves lying to a federal investigator.

Read Full Article at 9NEWS

Developing….

Terror Suspect’s Computer Shows Sports Stadiums, Fashion Sites

ABC News is reporting that law enforcement officials tell them a computer belonging to alleged al Qaeda suspect Najibullah Zazi showed he had researched baseball and football stadiums and sites used in the recent Fashion Week event in New York City.

ABC News reports officials said they aren’t sure what locations might have been targeted, but information found on Zazi’s computer may provide a window into what he might have been planning. They reportedly also found a text message that said “wedding cake is ready,” which may have been a signal about preparations for an attack.

Source – Fox News

Zazi, 24, had been scheduled to spend a fourth day today being questioned by the FBI but his lawyer, Arthur Folsom, canceled the session , according to the news report.

“He has taken the day to consult with his client,” said Wendy Aiello, a spokeswoman for the lawyer. Zazi is not in custody, she said.

While officials say they do not know the targets of the alleged plot, the contents of Zazi’s computer are considered a valuable insight into what he might have been planning.

Read Full Story

Denver Terror Plot Suspect May Be Looking To Cut Deal

UPDATED 10:33 PST 09/18/09

The New York Daily News is doing an incredible job reporting rapidly unfolding developments in a terror investigation that stretches from Denver Colorado to Queens New York.Today’s reports from the Daily News include the following items of interest:

• Lawyers for Najibullah Zazi are negotiating with federal officials for an agreement where he could admit receiving military training,but deny plans to injure any Americans
• Two men were picked up Thursday for questioning in New York, but then released.
• The Fbi is still following several of those involved and they know they are being followed.
• When the probe began this week 5 Colorado men cited as members of the cell were under a round-the-clock watch. That number had risen to as many as 12.

Read Full Story

CNN is also features several new developments in their latest report including the following:

• A spokeswoman for Zazi’s attorney said Zazi began meeting in Denver with the FBI at 9 a.m. Friday for the third consecutive day, and was still there by nightfall.
• Zazi’s father Mohammed met for three hours Friday afternoon with the FBI, then returned to his home.
• Further in the report CNN cites a source that says there were plans for an attack, presumably in the New York area, where crowds are large and security screening for travelers who are not flying is lax.
• Two additional sources in the report, familiar with the investigation said that Zazi had video of New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
• A former counterterrorism official briefed on the investigation said bomb instructions were found but could not say where. The former official said backpacks, computers and maps were found during searches in the New York City borough of Queens, and field tests turned up positive for explosives.

Read Full Article On CNN

UPDATE: The operative told Zazi what to say if stopped by police, and there is also a reference to a “wedding,” which American agents believe is a code word for an attack.

ABC News Report

ABC News is reporting on it’s website that the Denver man at the center of an alleged New York bomb plot, Najibullah Zazi, has admitted he has ties to al Qaeda and is in negotiations to plead guilty to a terror charge, a senior law enforcement official told ABC News.

Najibullah Zazi declines to answer questions after meeting with FBI in Denver.

The official said Zazi had received explosives training and his possible guilty plea would be part of a deal to cooperate with the government.

[...]

The plea negotiations were first reported by the New York Daily News.

A lawyer for Zazi, Arthur Folsom, called the reports “completely unfounded.”

Full Article At ABC News

From The New York Post

A suspected al Qaeda terrorist from Queens has reportedly admitted to the feds that he has ties to the group after being questioned for a third straight day.

Najibullah Zazi, 24, had contact with a known al-Qeida associate, Fox News Channel reported today on its Web side.

Earlier in the day, an official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, would not provide details on the location or nature of those alleged encounter.

[..]

Zazi, who authorities claimed had once trained at a Pakistani terror camp, had bomb-making diagrams on a computer that he carried with him on a visit to the city, CNN reported.

A joint FBI-New York Police Department task force feared Zazi may be involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives like those cited in an intelligence warning issued Monday.

Read Full Article

From CBS 2 HD

Bob Strang is a terrorism expert who said the FBI’s intense pressure on Zazi’s family may have been what caused him to crack and make the partial confession.

“This has been a hot case, something the government has been focused on for a while and it is now just coming to a head,” Strang told CBS 2 HD.

The ties between Najibullah Zazi and al-Qaida are growing. A source who gets high-level intelligence briefings told CBS 2 HD that law enforcement officials have recorded a number of conversations between Zazi and a known al-Qaida operative in Pakistan.

The key parts of the conversation? The operative told Zazi what to say if stopped by police, and there is also a reference to a “wedding,” which American agents believe is a code word for an attack.

Sources said the formula for the explosive TATP was found in Zazi’s computer when they seized his car, and with President Barack Obama coming to the UN next week, the FBI felt it needed to act.

Source

Denver Man Denies Ties To Terrorism – New York Terror Probe

Najibullah Zazi, a Colorado man whose visit to New York apparently set off government raids on several Queens apartments on Monday has denied having ties to al Qaeda or any other terrorist group.

“I have nothing to do with this,” said Zazi, 25, who was reached by telephone in Colorado on Monday and Tuesday. “This looks like it’s going toward me, which is more shocking every hour.”

Mr. Zazi said on Tuesday that he was contacting a lawyer, but he invited the F.B.I. to question him.

[...]

“I was hoping they’d come question me, give me a chance to question them, ask, ‘Why are you following me?’ ” said Mr. Zazi. “If they want to investigate, they can.”

He said he left Aurora, Colo., in a rented car and headed to New York to try to resolve an issue with a coffee cart that he said his family is licensed to operate in Lower Manhattan. A spokeswoman for the New York City health department could not confirm if the man or his father operated a mobile food cart.

Mr. Zazi said he was stopped at the George Washington Bridge by the authorities, who briefly detained him and searched his car. A city official confirmed that officers stopped a man at the bridge and searched his car, and that “everything was clean.” The official could not say what prompted the stop.

Mr. Zazi said he thought the police might be profiling him or suspected him because he has a beard and had rented the car. The next day, he said he thought his car had been stolen, but the police told him it had been towed. The following day, he said, he noticed he was being followed and called the police twice to complain.

Finally, he said, he cut short his stay in New York, deciding to fly back to Colorado on Saturday.

“It was too much for me,” Mr. Zazi said. “I said, ‘I can’t stay here, even for a minute.’ ”

Read Full Article

Related Stories

FBI and Homeland Security Warn NY Police Watch For Explosives Materials

Denver Terror Cell Plotting Attack At Center of New York Probe

Joint Terrorism Task Force Raids Homes In New York Terror Probe