Najibullah Zazi Terror Probe: A Timeline Of Events

DENVER — A timeline leading to the arrests of Najibullah Zazi, his father and an associate in a terror investigation, according to arrest warrant affidavits prepared by FBI special agents, public statements and public records:

_ Najibullah Zazi is born in Afghanistan on Aug. 10, 1985. He moved to Pakistan at age 7 and emigrated to the United States in 1999, according to his attorney. A legal permanent resident of the U.S., he returned to Pakistan in 2007 and 2008 to visit his wife, the lawyer said.

_ Aug. 28, 2008: Najibullah Zazi travels to Peshawar, Pakistan, from Newark International Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records.

_ Jan. 15, 2009: Zazi travels from Peshawar to New York, arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to Customs and Border Protection records. Zazi has said his last trip to Pakistan was around this time, to visit his wife.

_ Feb. 3: Zazi applies for a license to drive an airport shuttle in Denver, listing his past job as a vendor on Wall Street. Application says he's married and that he has been in Denver for about a month.

_ March 26: Zazi files for bankruptcy in New York, claiming about $51,000 in credit card debt and a $914 cell phone bill. He lists a Flushing, N.Y., address and says he's unmarried.

_ April 15: Denver grants Zazi a limousine driver's license, indicating Zazi passed a Colorado Bureau of Investigation background check and a driving record check. He works as a driver for ABC Airport Shuttle.

_ Aug 17: Bankruptcy is discharged.

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_ Sept. 9: FBI agents see Zazi drive away from his home in Aurora, Colo., in a rented car.

_ Sept. 10: Zazi arrives in New York, more than 1,600 miles away, and stays at a home in Queens. He is stopped by police on the George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, and consents to a random search of his vehicle for drugs. He was allowed to leave. Family members say he drove because he wanted to see the country. Meanwhile, New York City police detectives meet with Ahmad Wais Afzali, whom they've used as a source before. They show him photos of Zazi and others, and Afzali says he recognizes Zazi.

_ On or around Sept. 11: Zazi and his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, of Aurora, Colo., talk with Afzali by phone about what authorities asked Afzali. Later, Najibullah Zazi tells Afzali he feels like he's being watched.

_ Sept. 11: Zazi's rental car is towed for a parking violation, according to Zazi's attorney, Arthur Folsom. FBI agents search the car and find a laptop with an image of nine pages of handwritten notes on how to make explosives, detonators and fuses.

_ Sept. 12: Najibullah Zazi flies back to Denver, though his rental records show he wasn't due to return his rental car in New York until Sept. 14.

_ Sept. 14: FBI agents and police officers armed with warrants seeking bomb materials search three apartments and question residents in a Queens neighborhood. The agents find a black scale and AA batteries with Zazi's fingerprints on them. An intelligence warning to U.S. law enforcement raises the alarm of a potential plot involving homemade hydrogen peroxide-based explosives similar to those used in public transit attacks in Madrid and London.

_ Sept. 16: Federal agents interview Najibullah Zazi, who voluntarily appears at the FBI office in Denver with his lawyer for about eight hours. Zazi says he hadn't seen the handwritten notes and must have downloaded them unintentionally along with a religious book he downloaded and later deleted in August. Agents also search Zazi's apartment and the nearby home of his aunt.

_ Sept. 17-18: In more interviews with the FBI, Najibullah Zazi allegedly admits that during his 2008 trip to Pakistan he attended courses at an al-Qaida training facility in the federally administered tribal areas and received instruction on weapons and explosives.

_ Sept. 19: Authorities arrest Zazi, his father and Afzali on charges of lying in a matter involving terrorism.

_ Sept. 21: Zazi, his father make their initial court appearances in Denver, while Afzali is in court in New York. All three are ordered jailed until their next court appearances Sept. 24.

Comments

[JakeMontero]

since most of you folks believe 9/11 was an inside job are these clown terr orist part of the circus?

[Matt Sewell]

Why arrest these 3 on lying to the government? Obviously they were being watched and didn't seem to have any of the bomb making materials. Why not keep them under surveillance and snag more accomplices as the plans develop? Then maybe you could charge them with something more than just lying to the FBI.

[daynage]

We all watched people leap in flames to their deaths and thousands of other innocent and priceless human beings die eight years ago. We will never forget.
If this person went to Pakistan, and openly attended a camp where the self-professed perpetrators of that dispicable act of unprovoked savagery prepare for further mayhem, And did so without having the intelligence to realize that he would gain the attention of those who are working to prevent another attack, then he deserves whats in store for him. Good work FBI.

[JXJASON]

Finally, the NYPD and the FBI are doing their jobs. There are still thousands of people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and other places who want to hurt us.

We need more funds for the US Immigration and Customs Service and the US Border Patrol to keep these people out of the country.

Hopefully, these fellows will be sent to jail.

[NoComment9]

Finally they are doing their jobs? They've been doing their jobs all along and have been hampered at times by politics. In any case, it certainly isn't their fault when the govt decides to use an invading army to combat that which you need intelligence and police services for. I have lived in NY for over 20 years and don't blame the FBI or the NYPD for ignoring the "Al Qeada determined to strike inside the U.S." memo in the summer of 2001.

This is one of the few times we hear about something they caught. But they are following things all the time. Still, we need to be prepared and because I'm sure Al Qaeda wants to prove it's still around and try to pull off something early in the President Obama's term as they did to Pres. Clinton and Bush.

[Ergon]

I drove from Detroit to LA once. So?

[Ergon]

"Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, said in a telephone interview that the charges raised concerns about civil liberties.

“It heightens our concerns about the case because you would expect that if the government’s allegations were based on strong evidence, that there would be charges brought based on terror-related evidence, not making false statements,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/us/21terror.html

[JakeMontero]

hooper is a ha.ter

[stop the spin]

The headline should read:

Patriot Act Works - Now You Know Why Obama Supports It Too

[DocSkull]

There was nothing in the above report that couldn't have taken place before the Patriot Act. The FISA court rarely turned down requests and could even be approached after-the-fact if time was of the essence.

[StillAmused]

Another perfect example, just like 9/11, why it's so important that we make sure the al Qaeda Air Force and the Taliban Submarine Service aren't permitted to build secret airstrips and bases in Afghanistan from which they can launch attacks.

Waiter! Check, please...

[JakeMontero]

what a stooopid post.

[StillAmused]

A wasted mind is a terrible thing.

Thanks for your clueless contribution.

[Churchi11]

see, rethugs-THIS is how you stop a terrorist from attacking and killing Americans in America!
unlike bushco, who with Dick cheney failed at their sworn duty to defend this country, this administration stopped the attack before it could occur.
oh, and the Democrats saved America from the bad guys WITHOUT torture.
so when you're drinking the kool-aid that only bush, cheney, & the rethuglicans can protect America, remember those killed on nine eleven were killed under
1) repub white house
2) repub gov of NY
3) repub mayor of NY
4) repub congress.

the current administration is keeping America safer than the last one did. here's yet more proof.

[JakeMontero]

some good points.

[wsblake]

once again the american public-including the nitwits on here- are falling for yet another bogus terror plot-- why not just bring back the color code-that worked so well too

[wedgie]

Your post is absurd.

[skunky93]

yeah sure...it's "bogus" until it actually happens. Then after it happens, wsblake will be one of the first to criticize why or how it wasn't stopped. 1d/ot.

[JakeMontero]

easy folks -- wsblake is a drun.k poster...

[billblow3]

Yeah right, these guys aren't terrorist. The FBI just had egg on their face from last week accusing them of being terrorist and realize they were not so to make themselves look good they arrest them on some BS charges. Just another case of racism against a person with brown skin. If it isn't, why isn't the FBI going after those terrorist groups here in this country like the NAZI groups, the KKK, and all the other racist groups out here who are always saying they're going to over throw the government. Since Pres. Obama took office in Jan., the police has lost 10 police officers have been shot a killed by one of these racist right wing terrorist groups, 3 in Pittsburgh, 3 in California, 2 in ILL. 1 in DC at the Museum and 1 in Col., but it's ok for them to do it. They're not going after them b/c their the white group and they have rights but if you're brown skin in this country you're a criminal or a terrorist, PLEASE!!!!!!!, nothing but racism at it's best. These guys are not terrorist.

[skunky93]

and another one...

[JakeMontero]

ray csim ray cism ray cism really!!!! blah blah blah
one.trick pony

[NoComment9]

And the time Zazi spent in the Al Qaeda camp has nothing to do with it? Or the fact that FBI 's Imam informant, Afzali, fingered him? I guess you would argue that the Afzali is also racist...

You have to ignore most of the facts here to call this racism.

[heroine addict]

...the level of determination (driving to NY, etc.) is creepy.