Feds Believe Up To 12 Suspects Could Be
Involved In Possible Madrid-Like Attack On NYC Subways
22nd September 2009
Counterterrorism
officials have issued security bulletins to police
around the nation about terrorists' desire to attack
stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels -- the
latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as
investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and
New York.
In the two bulletins -- sent to police departments
Monday and obtained by The Associated Press -- officials
said they know of no specific plots against such sites,
but urged law enforcement and private companies to be
vigilant. These two bulletins followed on the heels of a
similar warning about the vulnerabilities of mass
transit systems.
The bulletin on stadiums notes that an al-Qaida training
manual specifically lists "blasting and destroying the
places of amusement, immorality, and sin... and
attacking vital economic centers" as desired targets of
the global terror network.
Despite the three federal warnings, NYPD Commissioner
Ray Kelly told reporters on Tuesday that local law
enforcements were not aware of any specific threats to
the city or its neighboring areas.
"There is no specific information that would give
concern for those areas," Kelly said. "In a post 9-11
world, we're concerned about a lot of things. As I said,
we do more in this city than any other city that I'm
aware of."
Kelly was asked if the bulletins were a reason to be
alarmed.
"We have not engaged in any different practices. We do a
lot everday, we devote 1,000 police officers, actually
over 1,000 officers everyday to protect this city from a
terrorist threat," he said..
The FBI said they found notes on bomb-making
instructions that appear to match the handwriting of
Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghanistan immigrant who
investigators have said is a key figure behind the
terror threats. Investigators discovered his
fingerprints on materials -- batteries and a scale --
that could be used to make explosives. He also made a
trip to Pakistan last year in which he received al-Qaida
explosives and weapons training, the government said.
Zazi, a legal resident of the U.S. who immigrated in
1999, told the FBI that he must have unintentionally
downloaded the notes on bomb-making as part of a
religious book and that he deleted the book "after
realizing that its contents discussed jihad."
A strange sequence of events began to unfold nearly two
weeks ago when Zazi -- already under surveillance by
federal agents -- rented a car in Colorado and made the
1,600-mile trek across the heartland to New York. He
told reporters that he went to New York to resolve an
issue with a coffee cart he owned.
He went to his friend's place in Queens. Once there, his
car was towed and authorities confiscated his computer.
He was told by an NYPD informant that detectives were
asking about him, and decided to cut the trip short and
fly back to Colorado, authorities said.
Their surveillance blown and their main suspect flying
back to Colorado, officials speeded up the investigation
and launched raids on several Queens apartments in a
search for explosives, but found none.
Zazi and his 53-year-old father, Mohammed Wali Zazi,
were arrested Saturday in Denver. Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37,
was arrested in New York, where he is an imam at a
mosque in Queens. The three are accused of making false
statements to the government. If convicted, they face
eight years in prison.
FBI
Statement On Arrest Of Terror Suspects
Read
Department Of Justice's Announcement Of Terror Arrests
Raw:
Criminal Complaint And Arrest Warrant, Najibullah Zazi (pdf)
Raw:
Criminal Complaint And Arrest Warrant, Mohammed Wali Zazi
(pdf)
Justice
Deparment's Counter-Terror Post-9/11 Fact Sheet
Homeland Security is asking the public to be on the
lookout. A joint statement from DHS and FBI said while
the agencies "have no information regarding the timing,
location or target of any planned attack, we believe it
is prudent to raise the security awareness of our local
law enforcement partners regarding the targets and
tactics of previous terrorist activity."
Officials noted the law enforcement bulletins are not
intended for the public. Bulletins -- particularly about
hotels as possible targets -- are common, and often
don't make news. However, a half-dozen alerts issued in
the last week have received increased attention amid the
ongoing investigations in New York and Denver. The first
of these, about hydrogen peroxide-based explosives,
specifically referred to the investigation in New York.
Separately, law enforcement officials said a Colorado
man may have been planning with others to detonate
backpack bombs on New York City trains in a terrorism
plot similar to past attacks on London's and Madrid's
mass-transit systems.
The investigation and the earlier warning about mass
transit system have already prompted officials around
the nation to step up patrols.
Two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
details of the investigation told The Associated Press
late Monday that more than a half-dozen individuals were
being scrutinized in the alleged plot.
In a statement, the FBI says that "several individuals
in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere" are being
investigated.
Investigators said Zazi, who is a shuttle van driver at
the Denver airport, played a direct role in the terror
plot that unraveled after an overnight 1,600-mile trip
from Denver to New York City around the anniversary of
the Sept. 11 attacks. He made his first court appearance
Monday and remains behind bars.
Zazi and two other defendants have not been charged with
any terrorism counts, only the relatively minor offense
of lying to the government. But the case could grow to
include more serious charges as the investigation
proceeds.
Backpacks and cell phones were seized last week from
apartments in Queens, where Zazi visited.
Zazi has publicly denied being involved in a terror
plot, and defense lawyer Arthur Folsom dismissed as "rumor"
any notion that his client played a crucial role.
Publicly, law enforcement officials have repeatedly said
they are unaware of a specific time or target for any
attacks. Privately, officials speaking on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss
the case said investigators have worried most about the
possible use of backpack bombs on New York City trains,
similar to attacks carried out in London in 2005 and
Madrid in 2004.
Backpack bombs ripped apart four commuter trains and
killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004. On July 7
the next year, bombing attacks in London killed 52
subway and bus commuters.
In a bulletin issued Friday, the FBI and Homeland
Security Department warned that improvised explosive
devices are the most common tactic to blow up railroads
and other mass transit systems overseas. And they noted
incidents in which bombs were made with peroxide.
In that bulletin, obtained by The AP, officials
recommended that transit systems conduct random sweeps
at terminals and stations and that law enforcement make
random patrols and board some trains and buses.
Investigators feared Zazi may have been involved in a
potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based
explosives, according to two law enforcement officials,
who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were
not authorized to discuss the investigation.
ut for suspicious activities at storage facilities, as
investigators search for stockpiled explosive chemicals
that could be used in a possible terror attack.
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