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Source: Reuters -
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Three people, including a Colorado man, his father and an
accused accomplice in New York, were arrested 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, a 24-year-old native of Afghanistan who 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 City, 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,"
Kris said.
All three men were expected to make initial court appearances on
Monday, 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 United States, FBI agents who searched Zazi's
rented car on September 11 found a laptop computer containing
instructions on the manufacture of explosive devices.
The affidavit says 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.
It's not true
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 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, 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," 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 Zazi, but has declined to elaborate
publicly on the probe.
FBI agents entered Zazi's residence on Wednesday afternoon with a
search warrant and the entire three-story apartment building was
roped off with yellow crime-scene tape.
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 Zazi came days after he traveled to New York
City.
He was stopped by authorities on September 10 while driving a
rental car on the George Washington Bridge, which connects New York
City with New Jersey, but Zazi later returned to Colorado by
airplane, his lawyer said.
Early on Monday, a joint anti-terrorism task force carried out a series of raids in an area of the Queens borough of New York where he had visited over the weekend.
The raids rattled some residents as they came days after the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
