Zazi Pleads Guilty, How Will Obama Deal With Him?

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Najibullah Zazi Pleads Guilty In New York Terrorism Plot


Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to detonate explosives in the United States.

In an appearance before a federal judge, Zazi admitted his role in the conspiracy, saying, "In spring 2008, I conspired with others to join the Taliban, to fight along with the Taliban against the United States."

"We were recruited to al Qaeda instead," he said.

He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and providing material support to a terrorist organization.

The terms of the plea deal were sealed. Sentencing is set for June 25.

Zazi was arrested in September in an alleged plot to build and detonate bombs in New York around the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

While at a terrorist training camp, he "had discussions with al Qaeda about targets including the New York City subway system," Zazi said in court Monday.

He said he learned how to make explosives at the camp and e-mailed himself bomb-making instructions to use once he returned to the United States.

"In early September 2009, I drove to New York with materials to build bombs," he said.

Federal officials have said the conspiracy involving Zazi represents the most serious terrorism plot since 9/11 and the investigation is intense and ongoing.

Since Zazi's arrest last year, two of his acquaintances have been indicted in connection with the case, as well as Zazi's father and uncle.

Zazi's father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, initially was charged with lying to investigators, but in January a federal grand jury in New York charged him with conspiracy to obstruct justice by helping to discard bomb-making chemicals when he learned of the government's investigation.

Najibullah Zazi's uncle, Naqib Jaji, was indicted on a single felony charge and was arraigned in a sealed proceeding in Brooklyn, New York, in January. The charge wasn't specified, but a source said the uncle participated in the attempt to dispose of evidence.

The indictment against Zazi said he twice checked into a motel in the Denver, Colorado, area -- in August and September -- and was experimenting with heating chemicals that could create a bomb. The indictment said chemical residues had been recovered from a vent in the motel room.

CNN obtained closed-circuit video from beauty parlors in the area that authorities said showed Zazi buying large quantities of chemicals that can be used to make bombs. The indictment against the younger Zazi said he was also in contact with other people as he experimented with the chemicals and tried to make the high explosive TATP.

Authorities said Zazi planned to be in New York with the intent of using an explosive device around September 11, 2009. The alleged plot, which came to light after raids in New York in mid-September, may have been targeting a major transportation center, sources said earlier.

Authorities have said that Zazi had been under surveillance for months before his arrest in September. Agents had followed him as he drove from Denver to New York.

The other men indicted in connection with the case are Zarein Ahmedzay, a New York taxi driver, accused of lying to the FBI, and Adis Medunjanin, 25, originally from Bosnia.

Medunjanin has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and receiving military-type training from al Qaeda.

Ahmedzay pleaded not guilty to lying to special agents about locations he visited during a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan and about discussions he had with an unidentified man about military training in Pakistan in 2008.


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Sources: MSNBC, CNN, Google Maps

2 Men Linked To Najibullah Zazi Arrested In NYC

Adis Medunjanin, Zarein Ahmedzay, Tied To Zazi Bomb-Plot Terror Probe, To Be Arraigned Friday


Two Queens men are expected to be arraigned Friday in connection with an Al Qaeda terror plot to bomb New York City.

Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay were busted as part of an FBI task force investigation into a suspected Al Qaeda cell, Special Agent Richard Kolko said.

Medunjanin, 25, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon after he crashed his car on the Whitestone Expressway while the feds tailed him, sources said.

Ahmedzay, a 24-year-old cabbie, was grabbed in Greenwich Village about 10 p.m. Thursday, the sources said.

Both men are believed to have ties to Najibullah Zazi, 24,, a Colorado airport driver the feds say is the mastermind of an Al Qaeda plot to attack New York.

All three men attended Flushing High School in Queens.

Ahmedzay and Zazi are natives of Afghanistan; Medunjanin's parents are from Bosnia. Asked if Medunjanin and Ahmedzay posed a serious threat, a law enforcement source told the Daily News,

"You don't put that kind of surveillance on small pieces of the puzzle." Zazi has pleaded not guilty to charges of getting Al Qaeda training to build homemade bombs to attack city targets.

Investigators raided Medunjanin's apartment earlier Thursday and had a warrant to seize his passport as part of an investigation into a conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, the suspect's attorney, Robert Gottlieb, said.

Medunjanin handed over the passport and was allowed to leave, sources said.

But he soon realized he was being followed and called 911. "He's driving erratically, then he speeds up and rams into a car in front of him," the law enforcement source said.

Medunjanin was treated for minor bumps and bruises at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing before he was taken into custody by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The feds were also following Ahmedzay and waited for him to be free of fares before they pounced, sources said. His mystified mother, who declined to give her name, said she doesn't understand why the feds are holding him.

"He's a good man," she said. "He's innocent. I don't know where he is."

Both men have been watched by the feds since September, when investigators arrested Zazi and raided his friends' apartments in Queens - including Medunjanin's pad.

Those raids turned up bomb-making equipment, and Zazi was charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

Medunjanin graduated last year from Queens College with a degree in economics. He and Ahmedzay are believed to have accompanied Zazi to an Al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan in 2008, sources said.

Zazi told the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force after he was arrested that he had received Al Qaeda training in weapons and explosives in Pakistan but denied any plot to bomb New York.



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Sources: NY Daily News, NY Post, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps