Why did Najibullah Zazi buy large quantities of acetone and hydrogen peroxide?”
A U.S. prosecutor said on Thursday the government may seek new charges against an Afghan-born man who has pleaded not guilty to plotting a bombing attack in the United States. Prosecutors revealed their intentions in federal court during a hearing in the case of Najibullah Zazi, 24, who was indicted by a grand jury in September on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Zazi, a former coffee vendor from New York who had moved to Colorado, is suspected of attempting to create and detonate a bomb in New York City on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Knox told the court it was likely there would be additional charges but was not more specific. Zazi’s defense attorney has cautioned against what he called a rush to judgment against Zazi, who prosecutors allege took a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, had bomb-making notes on his laptop, and acquired bomb-making materials similar to those used in the 200
TOM HAYS and DEVLIN BARRETT NEW YORK (AP) — An Afghan immigrant who received explosives training from al-Qaida went from one beauty supply store to another, buying up large quantities of hydrogen peroxide and nail-polish remover, in a chilling plot to build bombs for attacks on U.S. soil, authorities charged Thursday. Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old shuttle driver at the Denver airport, was indicted in New York on charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Investigators found bomb-making instructions on his computer’s hard drive and said Zazi used a hotel room in Colorado to try to cook up explosives a few weeks ago before a trip to New York. The extent of Zazi’s ties to al-Qaida was unclear, but if the allegations prove true, this could be the first operating al-Qaida cell to be uncovered inside the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Over the past few days, talk of the possible plot set off the most intense flurry of national terrorism warnings since the aftermath
Prosecutors revealed their intentions in federal court during a hearing in the case of Najibullah Zazi, 24, who was indicted by a grand jury in September on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Zazi, a former coffee vendor from New York who had moved to Colorado, is suspected of attempting to create and detonate a bomb in New York City on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Authorities say they observed Zazi buy large quantities of acetone and hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply stores in Colorado. They said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has had under surveillance other suspects it believes may have helped Zazi, although so far none of them have been identified or charged.
