Posted on 09/26/2009 7:55:33 AM PDT by 444Flyer
DENVER - Claims that an Afghan immigrant was on the verge of unleashing a terrorist attack on New York City on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 are missing a key element: explosives or the chemicals allegedly used to make them, the man's attorney said.
FBI agents have yet to find those elements and connect them to Najibullah Zazi, charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in a plot authorities say was aimed at commuter trains, attorney Arthur Folsom told a federal judge in Denver Friday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer ultimately ordered Zazi's transfer to New York, and Zazi was taken there by federal marshals.
"No traces of any kind of chemical was found in his vehicle," Folsom said of an FBI search of Zazi's car.
A federal prosecutor argued that Zazi was planning an attack to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary.
"The evidence suggests a chilling, disturbing sequence of events showing the defendant was intent on making a bomb and being in New York on 9/11, for purposes of perhaps using such items," prosecutor Tim Neff told Shaffer.
Zazi was stopped by police on Sept. 10 as he entered New York, and he dropped his plans for an attack once he realized that law enforcement was on to him, prosecutors allege.
Prosecutors said Zazi received explosives training from al-Qaida in Pakistan and returned to the U.S. bent on building a bomb.
Over the summer, he and three associates went from one beauty-supply store to another in a Denver suburb buying chemicals to make explosives like those that killed dozens of people in transit bombings in London and Madrid, investigators said.
At least three and possibly more of his accomplices
(Excerpt) Read more at enews.earthlink.net ...
i think something else is going on
I submit that a few mins. on the waterboard, and Mr. Zazi would provide the location of the explosive cache and a lot more .... !!!
Me too.
This is simply not true. He had purchased significant amounts of bomb-making chemicals and there are surveillance videos of him making those purchases. They have him on tape calling his friends in Pakistan to get more detailed instructions for making the explosive devices without blowing himself up. Why is AP basing a "news" story on lies told by the defendant's lawyer?
Obamanation
If it wasn’t so dangerous, it would be laughable to try to ‘time the terrorists’, much in the same way one would ‘time the markets’.....
After the fact, I could make the case - given the timing of the attacks in Dallas and Springfield, and the fact that Zazi made his trip to NYC *after* 9/11 - that the ‘target date’ for coordinated attacks was to coincide with the Muslim Day of Prayer....
CTV.ca: 'U.S. TERROR SUSPECT VISITED FAMILY IN CANADA: REPORT" (SNIPPET: "The revelations come after U.S. authorities told a Denver court Friday that they were investigating reports that Zazi made several trips north of the border, where he may have tried to organize a terror cell in Canada.") (Updated September 26, 2009, 10:34 pm)
MyDesert.com - DESERT SUN: Washington - "ENTERTAINMENT VENUES PUT ON TERROR WATCH" (SNIPPET: "...but no specific threat cited" SNIPPET: "Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists' desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels...") (September 23, 3009)
NY1.com: "NYPD: CITY KEPT SAFE AS TERROR INVESTIGATION WIDENS" (SNIPPET: "Officials reportedly say there may be 16 to 20 more suspects who are connected to the 24-year-old former Queens resident Najibullah Zazi.") (Updated September 22, 2009, 9:22 pm)
NY DAILY NEWS.com: "COPS, FEDS RANSACK QUEENS STORAGE SITES FOR QAEDA BOMB-MAKING MATERIALS" (SNIPPET: "The Department of Homeland Security at the same time has issued a nationwide bulletin asking cops to look at storage facilities.") (September 22, 2009, 4:00 am)
FBI.gov: Washington - "THREE ARRESTED IN ONGOING TERROR INVESTIGATION" (SNIPPET: "The Justice Department today announced that two individuals in Colorado and one individual in New York have been arrested on charges of making false statements to federal agents in an ongoing terror investigation. FBI agents in Colorado arrested Najibullah Zazi, 24, a resident of Aurora, Colo., and legal permanent resident from Afghanistan, and his father Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, a resident of Aurora and a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan. In addition, FBI agents in New York arrested Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, a resident of Flushing, N.Y., and a legal permanent resident from Afghanistan.") (September 20, 2009)
Edition.CNN.com - Aurora, Colorado - "3 MEN IN TERROR PROBE CHARGED WITH MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS" (SNIPPET: "Federal agents were investigating several people in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere in relation to a plot to detonate improvised explosive devices in the United States, officials said." SNIPPET: "Two sources familiar with the investigation said that Zazi had video of New York's Grand Central Terminal, a massive junction of rail and subway lines, as well as shops and restaurants, which see an average of more than a half million visitors per day.") (September 20, 2009)
NY DAILY NEWS.com: "FEDS PROBE ALLEGED TERRORISTS WHO TRIED TO RENT GIANT TRUCK IN SUSPECTED AL QAEDA BOMB PLOT" (SNIPPET: "Attorney General Eric Holder said the probe had spread beyond Denver, home to the alleged terror cell, and New York City. "The FBI is working this case around the clock in both cities and in other parts of the country," he said.") (September 19, 2009)
WCBSTV.com: "TARGET OF NY BOMB PLOT ADMITS TERRORIST TIES" by Marcia Kramer, New York (CBS) Reporting (SNIPPET: "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.") (September 18, 2009, 1:42 am PDT)
THE DENVER CHANNEL.com: "ABC NEWS: ZAZI ADMITS AL-QAEDA TIES, MAY PLEAD GUILTY" (SNIPPET: "The official said Zazi had received explosives training and his possible guilty plea would be part of a deal to cooperate with the government." SNIPPET: "Law enforcement officials in New York told ABC News that they have questioned at least 12 men about their connections to Zazi who arrived in New York after a 1,777 mile drive from Denver in a rental car taken out in his father/s name." SNIPPET: "ABC News reported that authorities found 12 new backpacks and a laptop computer. Authorities told ABC News that the computer contained bomb making directions and an explosives recipe that would have produced homemade bombs of the same size and type used in the terror attacks on the London subways in July, 2005.") (Updated September 18, 2009, 1:03 pm MDT)NY DAILY NEWS.com: "A DOZEN ON CONSTANT WATCH INCLUDING NAJIBULLAH ZAZI IN FBI's TERRORIST PROBE" (SNIPPET: "Zazi had taken video with his cell phone camera inside and outside Grand Central Station." SNIPPET: "While the interrogators focused on Zazi, authorities expanded their attention to include more potential suspects in a plot that raised concerns about the city's subway system. When the probe began this week, five Colorado men cited as members of the cell were under a round-the-clock watch. By yesterday, police sources said, that number had risen to as many as 12. A half-dozen were reportedly in New York, where Zazi arrived for a visit last week.") (September 18, 2009, 4:00 am)FreeRepublic.com - Discussion Forum (BNO via TWITTER.com): "FBI RAID QUEENS, NY HOME IN TERROR INVESTIGATION" (NOTE: Updates ongoing include New York and Colorado.) (September 14, 2009)
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