Court appearances set for terror suspect, father

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DENVER - Terror suspect Najibullah Zazi and his father Mohammed Wali Zazi will appear in federal court Monday to be advised of the charges against them. Both men are being held at the Denver City Jail on charges of making false statements in a matter involving international or domestic terrorism.

NBC News is reporting federal agents say New York City was the target of an alleged terror plot and that Najibullah Zazi is connected to the plot aimed at attacking public places like sports arenas or train stations. Authorities say they do not know the exact time or location of the attack.

According to an arrest affidavit released Saturday night, Najibullah Zazi drove a rental car from Colorado on Sept. 9, arriving in New York on Sept. 10. Federal agents searched the rental car the following day and say they found Najibullah Zazi's laptop computer, which contained a "jpeg image of nine-pages of handwritten notes." The notes contained "formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of initiating explosives, main explosives charges, explosives detonators and components of a fuzing system."

After Najibullah Zazi's trip, investigators searched several New York apartments in connection to his visit. Investigators tell NBC News during the searches of four apartments they found pictures and references to public places in New York. Officials also seized nine backpacks, according to NBC News.

Najibullah Zazi flew back to Colorado and learned about the raids in New York after friends called him and shortly before his own apartment was searched. He has said he drove to New York in September to resolve issues with a coffee cart he owns in Manhattan.

Father and son arrested

Twenty-four-year-old Najibullah and his 53-year-old father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, both of Arapahoe County, were arrested and taken to the Denver City Jail around 9:40 p.m. on Saturday. The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department were on scene at the time of the arrests.

The Zazis will be advised of their charges at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer at Arraj United States Courthouse in Denver.

Late Saturday night, the FBI also arrested 37-year-old Ahmad Afzali in New York where he is an imam at a mosque in Queens. Afzali was to appear Monday in federal court in New York.

All three were arrested for making a false statement in a matter involving international or domestic terrorism. The charge carries a maximum of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Last week, Najibullah Zazi voluntarily met with authorities on three occasions. During those meetings, the younger Zazi told investigators he had never seen the document found on the laptop in the rental car and that he must have unintentionally downloaded the document as part of a religious book, which he says he later deleted because it contained talk of jihad.

Federal handwriting analysts say there were characteristics in common between the notes and with samples submitted by Najibullah Zazi, however the final conclusion had not yet been made.

The affidavit also says the document was sent between three e-mail accounts in early Dec. 2008. The FBI believes Najibullah Zazi had control over all three e-mail accounts because two of the accounts had the same nine-digit password, and the third had a six-digit password matching the first six digits of the nine-digit password.

Mohammed Zazi and Afzali are accused of lying to FBI agents about calls between Denver and New York. An affidavit accuses Afzali of lying about a call in which he told Najibullah Zazi that he had spoken with authorities.

Zazi's father is accused of lying when he told authorities he didn't know anyone by the name of Afzali. The FBI said it recorded a conversation between Mohammed Zazi and Afzali.

Prosecutors have said they're not seeking to detain Zazi's father. It was unclear whether they would seek to detain Afzali, who has worked as an informant for New York police.

According to sources, the arrests could help federal agents apply more pressure on Najibullah and Mohammed Zazi in order to obtain details about the alleged terror plot.

Leaked information ends voluntary meetings

Najibullah Zazi's attorney Arthur Folsom spoke with 9Wants To Know on Sunday. Folsom says he was with Najibullah Zazi until 2 a.m. on Sunday and that his client was exhausted. Folsom went on to say he could not comment on the court documents released by federal officials late Saturday.

The terror arrests on Saturday came hours after Najibullah Zazi and Folsom decided to break off talks with the FBI when they became unhappy with leaks of information coming from government officials. The leaked information lead to news reports and some rumors about what Najibullah Zazi said during FBI questioning.

The Associated Press reported Friday a senior U.S. intelligence official told them Najibullah Zazi had indicated ties to al-Qaeda and played a crucial role in a planned terror attack. 9NEWS was not able to independently confirm what the AP reported.

When 9Wants To Know spoke with Folsom on Friday night he flatly denied the allegations.

"No, he did not admit to having ties to al-Qaeda," Folsom said. "He never admitted going to a terrorist training camp."

"Some of the information in news reports was not true," Folsom added, although he did concede some of the information reported was true.

Throughout this investigation, the FBI has said they cannot comment on any of these reports.

Investigation in Colorado continues

After the digital document was found in Najibullah Zazi's rental car, investigators in Colorado started checking to see whether he recently bought any bomb-making ingredients.

9Wants To Know confirmed last week the FBI visited Home Depot and pool supply stores looking into whether Najibullah Zazi or associates purchased chemicals that could be used in an explosion. 9Wants To Know also confirmed over the past two weeks agents visited area storage unit facilities showing employees pictures of men and women of Middle Eastern decent and asked if they had rented a storage unit.

As part of the investigation, our partners at The Denver Post report investigators have checked taxi cab and shuttle drivers at Denver International Airport and have used dogs to check cabs and shuttles. Najibullah Zazi works at ABC Shuttle in Aurora. It operates at DIA.

Najibullah Zazi was born in Afghanistan in 1985, moved to Pakistan at age 7 and emigrated to the United States in 1999. He returned to Pakistan in 2007 and 2008 to visit his wife, according to his attorney, Arthur Folsom.

Many 9NEWS viewers have sent tips about this story many of which have helped us bring new details in this story.


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To see the complete text of the Najibullah Zazi arrest affidavit click here.

To see the complete text of the Mohammed Zazi arrest affidavit, click here.

To see the complete text of the Ahmad Afzali arrest affidavit, click here.