Three Afghan-origin men have been arrested for "knowingly and willfully making false statements" to FBI agents investigating an alleged plot to detonate explosives in the US, an extensive terror probe that stretches to Pakistan.
24-year-old Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi and his father Mohammed Wali Zazi were arrested last night in Denver suburb of Colorado. Their acquaintance Ahmad Wais Afzali of Flushing, New York, was also held.
"Each of the defendants has been charged by criminal complaint with knowingly and willfully making false statements to the FBI in a matter involving international and domestic terrorism," the Justice Department said in a statement.
Zazi, a limousine driver for First ABC Transportation that operates near Denver International Airport, and his 53-year-old father are expected to make their first appearance in a Colorado federal court tomorrow while Afzali, 37, is scheduled to appear in a New York court the same day.
If convicted, each faces eight years in prison, CNN reported. The arrests came as Federal agents were investigating several people in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere in relation to a plot to detonate improvised explosive devices in the US, officials were quoted as saying.
The alleged terror plot came to light this week after raids in New York and may have involved a major transportation centre, like a large railroad or subway station, sources close to the investigation told CNN earlier.
There were plans for an attack, presumably in the New York area, where crowds are large and security screening for non-airport travellers is lax, sources were quoted as saying.
According to the criminal complaints against him, Zazi left the US for Peshawar in northwest Pakistan in August 2008, returning home in January. Court documents described a September 11 search of his rental car, during which agents found a laptop containing a photographic image of nine pages of handwritten notes which had instructions on how to make explosives, CNN said.
At Zazi's Queens residence, FBI agents seized a black scale containing several AA batteries. Zazi's fingerprints were on both, the criminal complaint against him said. When asked about the notes found on the laptop, Zazi "falsely asserted that he had never seen the document before and stated he had not written the notes," according to the affidavits cited by CNN.
Zazi submitted to two more voluntary interviews the next two days, when he admitted that he attended courses and received instructions on weapons and explosives at an al-Qaeda training facility in Pakistan's tribal areas in 2008, the report said.
Investigators also filed false statement charges against Zazi's father and Afzali. Justice Department officials said they intercepted a number of calls between the Zazis and Afzali on September 11. Zazi, however, told 'The Denver Post' that he has not admitted to any ties to the terrorist group. He said he goes to Pakistan to visit his wife.
