Terror Suspect Had Bomb Guide, Handwritten Notes
September 20, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
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.
Denver Terror Plot Suspect May Be Looking To Cut Deal
September 18, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
