9/11 Remembered

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― Attorney General Eric Holder says the alleged terror plot disrupted in New York was one of the most serious in the United States since the 2001 terror attacks.

In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Holder said Tuesday that prosecutors will bring all those involved in the plot to justice. He would not give a timeline when more arrests might come or say how many people might be involved.

So far, one suspect, Najibullah Zazi, has been charged with conspiring to detonate bombs in the United States, and two others have been charged with lying to investigators in the case.

The nation's top law enforcement official says the alleged plot is more evidence that people inside and outside the country are actively plotting to harm Americans.

President Barack Obama is touting the case of an al-Qaida-linked Afghan immigrant who allegedly plotted an attack in New York as proof the U.S. intelligence community is making progress in the struggle to defeat the terror group.

Federal agents began watching Zazi in Denver in early September. He drove a rental car to New York on Sept. 9, but left the city to return to Denver on Sept. 12 after learning that investigators were looking for him, prosecutors said. FBI agents raided three apartments in Queens two days after Zazi left the New York area.

Zazi and his lawyer agreed to meet with investigators at FBI offices in Denver on Sept. 16. After three days of meetings, Zazi was arrested and charged with lying to federal agents.

Speaking Monday in Colorado at a conference of police chiefs, Attorney General Eric Holder said the plot had the potential to kill scores of people.

Zazi is the only suspect publicly identified in the terror plot. More arrests are expected. Prosecutors have said three others in New York City worked with Zazi, although they do not currently pose a threat.

Calls to Zazi's lawyer were not returned Monday.

Zazi was initially arrested on charges that he lied to federal investigators. He remains held without bond and has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. The charges related to his statements to investigators later were dropped.

Zazi's father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, and a Queens, N.Y., imam, Ahmad Wais Afzali, face charges of lying to investigators last month when first questioned about Zazi.

Prosecutors said Zazi received explosives training at an al-Qaida training camp. They have accused him of planning an attack in New York, perhaps on the city's subway system around the anniversary of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack, using powerful homemade bombs of hydrogen peroxide and flour. Would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid attempted to use the same type of explosive in 2001 to destroy an airliner, and the material was used by the terrorists in the London bombings in 2005 that killed 52 people.

Zazi was recruited and trained by al-Qaida to make the bombs from common supplies purchased at beauty supply stores, intelligence officials said, although they declined to say when that occurred. Zazi's contact with the senior al-Qaida operative occurred through an intermediary, one official said.

Zazi, who moved to the U.S. with his family as a teenager, has denied any involvement in a terror plot. He has said his travels to Pakistan, which began in 2006, were to visit family, including his wife, whom he married on that first trip.

The case against Zazi involves classified information as well as evidence, collected by the FBI in searches of Zazi's computer, that discussed bomb making.

Prosecutors submitted court documents saying they intend to use electronic information the FBI obtained through the use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Zazi will appear in court next on Dec. 3.

Najibullah Zazi Indictment

FBI Statement On Arrest Of Terror Suspects

Department Of Justice's Announcement Of Terror Arrests

Criminal Complaint And Arrest Warrant, Najibullah Zazi (pdf) 

Criminal Complaint And Arrest Warrant, Mohammed Wali Zazi (pdf)

Justice Deparment's Counter-Terror Post-9/11 Fact Sheet



 

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

WCBSTV.com Popular Pages

• Go! New York For A Healthy Lifestyle
• Got Wit? Play CBS 2's Caption Game!
• 20 Questions
• Celebrities On Twitter
• Celebrity Real Names Revealed
• When It Was Out To Be Out
• Hilarious Movie Blunders
• World's Coolest Fighter Jets