Sep 25, 2009 3:23 am US/Eastern
Did NYPD Blow FBI's Terror Plot Investigation?
Queens Imam Accused Of Double-Crossing Authorities; Supposed Informant Instead Warned Najibullah Zazi
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly (file)
AP
Heads are rolling at police headquarters, as questions arise about whether the NYPD blew the FBI's terror investigation.
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly defends the department's decision to trust an imam who reportedly double-crossed police.
The finger-pointing has already started. FBI agents are blaming the NYPD for hurting their terror probe, and it's all because of one man: Queens imam Ahmad Afzali.
Afzali had been a police informant before, but when officers showed him pictures of Najibullah Zazi, he reportedly turned on them, disrupting the investigation.
Commissioner Kelly's whereabouts were an NYPD state secret Thursday, but CBS 2's Marcia Kramer found him.
When asked whether Afzali had been a reliable informant who had turned on the department, Kelly said that it's sometimes the nature of using informants.
"That's just the way things are in the world in which we operate," Kelly said. "Sometimes you use people as allies, and sometimes they can turn against you. We understand that."
The commissioner wouldn't, however, discuss whether it was a mistake to trust Afzali.
"No, I don't want to get into the details of it. It's classified information," Kelly said.
While some people in the FBI were said to be upset about the incident, sources tell CBS 2 that higher ranking officials in the agency saw it as an unfortunate, but unintentional, misstep.
Still, a deputy inspector in the intelligence division, one who was involved in the decision to use the imam, has been transferred and been made to take the blame.
Kelly didn't want to discuss it.
"I'm not going to talk about personnel moves, and I'm not going to talk about the specifics of this investigation, because it is classified information," Kelly said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the decision, pointing out that the end result – disrupting an alleged plot to detonate homemade bombs – is what's important.
"You're always criticized, if you don't or if you do," Bloomberg said. "If we're going to make a mistake, I'd rather be on the 'do' side."
Commissioner Kelly said the relationship between the FBI and the NYPD is stronger now than it's ever been, and he said the investigation demonstrated the NYPD's core philosophy – disrupt and prevent.
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