Nov 3, 2009 8:28 pm US/Eastern
Trial Date Delayed For NYC Terror Suspect's Dad
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Mohammed Zazi arrives at U.S. District Court in Denver on Oct. 9, 2009 in Denver.
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Lawyers preparing for the trial of a Colorado man whose son is charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction are getting more time to get ready.
A federal judge in Denver on Tuesday granted a request from federal prosecutors and attorneys for Mohammed Wali Zazi to declare the case "unusual and complex" and postpone a Dec. 7 trial date. No new trial date has been set.
Zazi is accused of lying to the FBI when asked if he had spoken to anyone on the phone about whether his son, Najibullah Zazi, was in any trouble with authorities. Najibullah Zazi is being held without bond in New York on the conspiracy charge. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Mohammed Zazi is free on $50,000 bail and is being monitored electronically.
Authorities say Najibullah Zazi conspired to use homemade bombs in a large-scale terror attack, possibly on the city's transit system. Court papers alleged that Zazi bought and tested bomb-making materials in a Denver suburb before traveling by car to New York, all while under FBI surveillance.
After federal authorities alerted the New York Police Department to the possible threat, detectives tried to gather information about Zazi from Ahmad Wais Afzali, who was an imam in the Queens neighborhood where Zazi once lived. The next day, Afzali called Zazi, telling him, "They asked about you guys," according to court papers.
Through the recorded conversation, the FBI discovered that Zazi "learned directly that the law enforcement officers were tracking his activities," federal prosecutors said in the court papers.
"Zazi ultimately purchased an airline ticket and returned to Denver on Sept. 12," the court papers said.
Over the next few days, heavily armed investigators staged a series of raids in Queens and arrested Zazi, his father and Afzali on initial charges they misled investigators. Prosecutors allege that the imam lied in a statement denying he had tipped off Zazi.
Afzali, 37, was arrested in September as federal authorities
tried to thwart the alleged plot by Najibullah Zazi, a Colorado airport
van driver they say received explosives training from al-Qaida on a
trip to Pakistan.
He pleaded
not guilty Monday. "I have nothing to hide," he told reporters outside federal court in Brooklyn after his plea.
Afzali, who is free on bail, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of four counts of making false statements. He was ordered to return to court Dec. 11.
Authorities have said the terrorism investigation is still active but haven't announced additional arrests. Zazi has denied any wrongdoing.
Members of the local Muslim community charge law enforcement with racial profiling of Muslim immigrants and increasing surveillance of their places of worship and business.
"People feel like they are being harassed, and they don't want to go to mosque to worship God Almighty," Muslim resident Sultan Faiz said.
In a statement, the FBI responded: "The FBI does not engage in racial or ethnic profiling. With predication, we investigate individuals or groups of individuals for criminal conduct or threats to national security."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments