DENVER – A Colorado man, his father and an accused accomplice in New York were arrested on Saturday and charged with lying to federal agents about a plot to blow up unspecified targets in the United States, the US Department of Justice said.
Najibullah Zazi (24), a native of Afghanistan who works as an airport shuttle bus driver, was questioned by the FBI for three days, and his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi (53) were taken into custody at an apartment in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Also arrested was Ahmad Wais Afzali (37), a native of Afghanistan who was living in the Queens borough of New York, a department of justice spokesman said.
“The arrests carried out tonight are part of an ongoing and fast-paced investigation,” David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. “It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack,” Mr Kris said.
All three men were expected to make initial court appearances today, Najibullah Zazi and Mohammed Zazi in Denver and Afzali in New York, and each faces a possible eight years in prison if convicted.
According to affidavits filed in the case which document contacts between the three men and Najibullah Zazi’s travels between Pakistan and the US, FBI agents who searched his rented car on September 11th found a laptop computer containing instructions on the manufacture of explosive devices.
The affidavit says Mr Zazi falsely told agents he had never seen the documents before or written them, but admitted that during a trip to Pakistan he received instruction on weapons and explosives at an al-Qaeda training facility in Pakistan.
Mr Afzali is accused of lying when he told agents in a written statement that he had never warned Zazi and his father that authorities had sought information about them and that their phones were being monitored.
Mohammed Zazi was accused of falsely denying that he knew and had contacted Mr Afzali.
The arrests came after talks between Zazi and federal authorities, which had stretched over three days, apparently broke down on Saturday and the suspect declined a fourth meeting, choosing to consult with his lawyers instead.
In a telephone interview with the Denver Post newspaper on Saturday morning, Mr Zazi said that contrary to media reports he had not admitted any link to al-Qaeda or participating in training with the group in Pakistan.
“It’s not true,” Mr Zazi told the newspaper. “I have nothing to hide. It’s all media publications reporting whatever they want. They have been reporting all this nonsense.”
FBI Director Robert Mueller has reassured lawmakers in Washington that there is no imminent security threat related to the investigation surrounding Mr Zazi, but has declined to elaborate publicly on the investigation. FBI agents entered Mr Zazi’s residence on Wednesday afternoon with a search warrant and the entire three-storey apartment building was roped off.
Authorities put black screens over the building’s windows to prevent onlookers from seeing inside, and a house a few miles away was likewise cordoned off.
Before the Denver-area raids began, three local public schools were locked down as a precaution, with students kept inside until they were picked up by their parents.
The questioning of Mr Zazi came days after he travelled to New York. He was stopped by authorities on September 10th while driving a rental car on the George Washington Bridge, which connects New York with New Jersey, but Mr Zazi later returned to Colorado by aircraft, his lawyer said. Early last Monday, an anti-terrorism task force carried out raids in an area of the Queens borough of New York where he had visited over the weekend. – (Reuters)