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whadu · Level 49: GameShark **Posts:** 37195 **Timestamp:** Sun Sep 20, 09 8:13 AM

Federal authorities arrested an airport shuttle bus driver and his father in Colorado and another man in New York City on Saturday night, charging them with lying to investigators about an alleged terrorist plot to detonate an improvised explosive against an unknown target in the United States.
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Chris Schneider/Denver Post, via Associated Press

Najibullah Zazi was arrested by F.B.I. agents in Aurora, Colo., late Saturday.
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Marc Piscotty/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mr. Zazi, 24, arrived at the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building in downtown Denver on Thursday.

Acting swiftly late on Saturday after a week in which investigators worked intensely in New York and Denver to put together a case, F.B.I. agents arrested Najibullah Zazi, 24, his father Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, who both reside in Aurora, Colo., and Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, a resident of Flushing, Queens.

The arrests indicated the case was rapidly accelerating and provided for the first time — in a sometimes confusing week of events — an explanation of why authorities were investigating the men and provided details about the alleged plot still under investigation in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere.

In a statement issued early Sunday, David Kris, the chief of the Justice Department’s national security division, said: “The arrests carried out tonight are part of an ongoing and fast-paced investigation. It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack.”

Affidavits filed in the case said that during a search of the younger Mr. Zazi’s rental car on Sept. 11, agents found a laptop computer that contained an image of nine pages of handwritten notes. The notes, according to affidavit, “contain formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of initiating explosives, main explosives charges, explosives detonators and components of a fusing system.”

Last Wednesday, the affidavits said, when agents interviewed Mr. Zazi in Denver, he falsely said he had never seen the handwritten notes and told agents that he had not written the notes.

In two additional interviews on Thursday and Friday, Mr. Zazi told agents in Denver that during a 2008 trip to Pakistan, he attended courses and received instruction on weapons and explosives at an al Qaeda training camp located in a tribal area.

The affidavits also said that the elder Mr. Zazi and Mr. Afzali, who was said to have been a source for the New York Police Department, also lied to investigators about their conversations concerning the younger Mr. Zazi and their knowledge of his activities.

The father and son were schedule to make an initial appearance on Monday in federal court in Denver and Mr. Afzali will make his appearance, also on Monday, in federal court in Brooklyn. Government officials said the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, were preliminary and were likely to be followed by an indictment with more detailed accusations as the investigation continues.

The Zazis and Mr. Afzali are from Afghanistan. The elder Mr. Zazi is a naturalized citizen, while Mr. Afzalie and the younger Mr. Zazi are legal immigrants.

Wendy S. Aiello, a spokeswoman for Arthur Folsom, the lawyer representing the Zazis, said both men were arrested late Saturday night.

“Their attorney is with them,” said Ms. Aiello, who declined further comment.

Earlier on Saturday, following three days in which the younger Mr. Zazi had been intensively questioned by the F.B.I., he declined to meet with its agents, as planned, she said.

“He’s at home,” she said earlier in the day, adding that no plea arrangement was being negotiated on Mr. Zazi’s behalf.

At the same time, The Denver Post reported on Saturday that Mr. Zazi said in a telephone interview that he had not admitted any link to Al Qaeda, to participation in insurgency training in Pakistan or to involvement in a terrorist plot.

Government officials briefed on the matter have said that as Mr. Zazi voluntarily answered questions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, he admitted that he had perhaps unwittingly crossed paths in Pakistan with extremists allied with the terrorist organization. There were also indications that Mr. Zazi underwent training in explosives and bomb-making while overseas.

“If it was true, they wouldn’t allow me to leave,” Mr. Zazi told The Denver Post. I don’t think the F.B.I. or the police would allow anyone who admits being a terrorist to go free for one minute.”
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