DENVER (Reuters) – A Colorado man, his father and an accused accomplice in New York are to appear in federal court today on charges of 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. He and his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, were taken into custody on Saturday 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 … 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 today, Najibullah Zazi and Mohammed Zazi in Denver and Afzali in New York. 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 Sept. 11 found a laptop computer containing several pages of hand-written instructions on the manufacture of explosive devices.
