Sep 18, 2009 10:34 pm US/Mountain
CBS4 Talks To Zazi After FBI Questioning
Contributions by Catherine Tsai, Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP/CBS4) ―
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Najibullah Zazi talks to CBS4's Raj Chohan Friday night.
CBS
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An image from the FBI search of another Aurora home linked to the case.
CBS
CBS4's Raj Chohan talked to a man under investigation in a terrorism probe in New York and Denver after he finished with questioning by the FBI Friday night. Najibullah Zazi has indicated he is associated with al-Qaida and played a key role in a planned terror attack, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Friday.
CBS News has learned that Zazi has provided a partial confession to investigators. He has admitted ties to terrorism, but downplayed his involvement in any terrorist plot.
Prosecutors are going over the information he has provided and looking at possible charges that could be brought against Zazi.
CBS News has learned from a source who gets high level intelligence briefings, that law enforcement has record of a number of conversations between Zazi and a known al Queda operative in Pakistan. During the conversations the operative tells Zazi what to say if stopped by police.
In the conversations there also is a reference to a "wedding" which U.S. law enforcement believes is a code word for an attack, finding no evidence of a real planned wedding.
According to sources cited by CBS News, law enforcement felt the trip to New York was sudden and Zazi told at least one person not to tell anyone he was going.
The source also said the formula for the explosive TATP was found in his computer when they seized his car.
Zazi completed a third day of questioning by FBI agents in Denver Friday, but was not under arrest. More questioning was expected Saturday.
The intelligence official in Washington told The Associated Press that Zazi has indicated that he is directly linked with al-Qaida. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence matters, said Zazi played a crucial role in an intended terrorist attack but that it was not immediately clear what the targets were.
The official went on to say that the plot was being directed from outside the United States.
FBI agents questioned Zazi's father Friday. He was released from that interview Friday afternoon after 4:00.
The FBI didn't say why it wanted to talk to Mohammed Zazi, said the spokeswoman, Wendy Aiello.
FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright said she couldn't comment.
Aeillo said the fact that agents want to speak to the father doesn't signal that they are done questioning the son.
Najibullah Zazi has already undergone hours of questioning this week, and his apartment and his uncle and aunt's home in suburban Denver have been searched.
Authorities have not said what they found and have made no public statements on the investigation. Officials in both New York and Colorado have said they knew of no specific threat.
Najibullah Zazi hasn't been arrested, and his attorney, Arthur Folsom, says he doesn't expect him to be.
An official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the younger man had contact with a known al-Qaida associate. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, would not provide details on the location or nature of the encounter.
The official said agents have been monitoring Najibullah Zazi and four others in Colorado as part of a terrorism investigation. It wasn't immediately known whether Mohammed Zazi was one of the four.
Folsom said his client has never met with al-Qaida operatives and isn't involved in terrorism.
"He's simply somebody who was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Folsom said Thursday.
Folsom told The Denver Post the agents aren't repeating questions to Zazi but are asking different things.
"They are going through things -- the best I can describe it is chronologically. Covering all the bases," Folsum said.
Najibullah Zazi is a driver for an airport shuttle service in Denver. Authorities say he rented a car and drove from Denver to New York, crossing into Manhattan the day before the anniversary of Sept. 11.
He was stopped in what was described as a routine stop at the George Washington Bridge before he was allowed to go free.
A relative said Zazi drove because he wanted to see the American countryside. Zazi said he went to New York to resolve some issues with a coffee cart he owns in Manhattan, but officials suspected that something more sinister might have been in the works.
FBI agents and police officers with search warrants seeking bomb materials searched three apartments and questioned residents in the neighborhood in Queens where he was staying.
A joint FBI-New York Police Department task force feared Zazi may be involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives like those cited in an intelligence warning issued Monday, said two other law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation.
Folsom said Zazi, 24, was born in Afghanistan in 1985, moved to Pakistan at age 7 and emigrated to the United States in 1999. Zazi's aunt had said earlier that he was born in Pakistan and grew up in Queens, N.Y.
Folsom said Zazi has returned to Pakistan four times in recent years: in 2004 because his grandfather was sick and dying, in 2006 to get married, and in 2007 and 2008 to visit his wife.
Associated Press Writer Adam Goldman in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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