Thread: Feds probe alleged terrorists who tried to rent giant truck

Feds probe alleged terrorists who tried to rent giant truck in suspected Al Qaeda bomb plot

BY James Gordon Meek In Washington, Judith Crosson In Denver, Kate Nocera, Rocco Parascandola and Larry Mcshane


Updated Saturday, September 19th 2009, 4:40 AM

Seven men who are under a federal investigation walked into a Queens U-Haul and tried to rent the largest Jumbo Sized Super Movertruck.

Investigators probed a failed Queens truck rental for ties to a possible Al Qaeda bomb plot yesterday as a chief terror suspect tried making a deal to save his skin.

The New York end of the expanding federal probe centered on seven Afghan men who tried to rent the biggest truck at a Queens U-Haul on Sept. 9, sources told the Daily News.

The size of the vehicle involved - a 26-foot-long truck - suggested the conspirators wanted to pack it with explosives, sources said.

A police source acknowledged there was "quite a bit that we weren't completely sure of" about the plot or the role of Najibullah Zazi, the bearded public face of the terrorism investigation.

"We knew this guy [Zazi] wasn't innocent," the source said.

Zazi, after three days of FBI questioning, was considering a plea deal to turn informant, sources told The News.

He also admitted to feds that he may have come across Al Qaeda militants while in Pakistan, sources said.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the probe had spread beyond Denver, home to the alleged terror cell, and New York City.

"The FBI is working this case around the clock in both cities and in other parts of the country," he said.

The truck rental bid failed when none of the men could produce a valid credit card. All refused to surrender the identification needed to pay cash, the manager of the Flushing U-Haul said.

A team of FBI agents spent 10 hours Thursday combing through the Queens truck rental business.

"We all feel very lucky right now," U-Haul manager Robert Larson told The News.

When the FBI arrived, Larson said, "I was wondering, 'Where is Ashton Kutcher to tell me I've been punked?'"

By the time the agents left, "I realized this is crazy, this is real, it's not a joke," Larson said.

The feds turned up at the U-Haul in Jamaica around 11 a.m. Thursday as authorities continued tailing and interviewing suspects linked to the reputed Denver cell.

At least three Afghan men - including Ahmad Afzali, a Queens imam identified by a U-Haul employee as one of the would-be renters - were questioned in New York by FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, sources said.

And at least a dozen people remained under round-the-clock surveillance in the case.

U-Haul workers also identified Naiz Kahn, who has said he gave Zazi a place to stay during his visit to New York last week.

"None of them looked suspicious," Larson said. "They looked like laborers. Not clean-cut guys, but your average Joes."

An employee at Afzali's funeral home in Queens said the FBI swooped down on the business Thursday.

"I don't know what's happening," the man said. "The office was turned upside down."

Afzali, in a phone call with The News, insisted he was never at the U-Haul and had nothing to do with any terror plot. He described his sitdown with the FBI as a cordial conversation.

"I will help the authorities," he said. "We have nothing to hide."

The Department of Homeland Security sent a note to police last night to remain alert.

"While DHS and FBI have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to remind transit authorities to remain vigilant," it said.

The plea bargain talks began as Zazi spent a third day with FBI agents in Denver.

Investigators were "absolutely positive Zazi is a terrorist operative for a variety of reasons," said one senior U.S. counterterrorism official. "People list all of his connections to Al Qaeda in Pakistan almost mundanely."

If a deal is finalized, investigators in New York will move to make additional arrests, sources told The News.

The scenario involves Zazi, an Afghan national, pleading guilty to receiving military instruction at terrorist training camps - perhaps in Pakistan, where his wife lives.

In return, he would cooperate with the federal probe, the sources said.

The 24-year-old arrived in New York from Denver on Sept. 10, the eve of the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks and the day before the attempted truck rental.

He drove alone cross-country, his lawyer said.

Authorities, despite all the activity, had not yet made an arrest four days after NYPD raids on several locations in Queens.

While Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined comment on a Zazi plea deal, sources indicated his lawyers were in negotiations.

Zazi arrived at the FBI's Denver office yesterday morning after doing a pair of eight-hour Q&A sessions with federal agents Wednesday and Thursday.

"Our strategy has not changed," his lawyer, Arthur Folsom, said before going inside. "My client hasn't done anything. Our position is to answer the FBI's questions.

"They are asking him about everything - the people he knows, people he's talked to, family members."

lmcshane@nydailynews.com



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/09 ... tml?page=1

How many members of this terrorist cell are going to be in DC for the big gathering of muslims blaring their hate-filled, islamic horsesh*t through loudspeakers for an entire weekend while the American people are FORCED to listen to it because there will be no escaping it even within the confines of their own homes?

Leave it to this administration to allow upwards of 50,000 enemies of Christianity and the US to concentrate themselves inside of our nation's capitol.....control central of our government structure, the very symbol of everything these people HATE.

Is it just me or does anyone else see the potential for an absolute nightmarish and unimagineable scenario to take place?

Zazi, an Afghan national,

Sounds like he is here as a visitor, since they don't mention immigration status.

Dixie

Wait till Obama brings in his friends, the Hamas Terrorists that hate Americans and Jews.

What is the immigration status of these guys? I am sure they weren't born in the US. Can we strip them of their citizenship ( if they have it) an deport them back to Afghanistan? After all if can deport a 90 year old Nazi and stip him of his citizenship surely we can deport a 20 something member of Al Quaeda and strip him of his citizenship.

Originally Posted by Dixie

Zazi, an Afghan national,

Sounds like he is here as a visitor, since they don't mention immigration status.

Dixie

Aren't they all always visiting Dixie?

I'm telling ya......this in conjunction with the timing of the DC event, the highly suspect behavior and actions of that individual occupying the WH, the fact that planned events for this thing include tours of our government buildings, the degree of certainty the WH is expressing over some horrific swine flu outbreak with mass fatalities...... all combined I just don't have a good feeling about this at all.

Really. I don't.

[quote="WorriedAmerican"]


Wait till Obama brings in his friends, the Hamas Terrorists that hate Americans and Jews.





Haven't they started arriving already WA?

I thought the "urgency" of the situation is why the messiah fast tracked the executive order to start bringing them in as fast as he could possibly get them here.........well, the ones still left over there having not already gotten into this country I should say.

Originally Posted by azwreath

How many members of this terrorist cell are going to be in DC for the big gathering of muslims blaring their hate-filled, islamic horsesh*t through loudspeakers for an entire weekend while the American people are FORCED to listen to it because there will be no escaping it even within the confines of their own homes?

Leave it to this administration to allow upwards of 50,000 enemies of Christianity and the US to concentrate themselves inside of our nation's capitol.....control central of our government structure, the very symbol of everything these people HATE.

Is it just me or does anyone else see the potential for an absolute nightmarish and unimagineable scenario to take place?

50-100,000 Muslims will be in our nations capitol on Sept 25th. IMO this will not be a peaceful prayer meeting. ANYWAY, WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED TO GATHER AT SUCH AN ODD HOUR IN THE MORNING? This is plain bizzare.

Americans hold onto your bibles and guns…….

These are such frightening things. It's obvious that Obama is working on destroying America. Bush had his faults but Bush is a day in the park compared to Obama the madman and his accomplices.

I live near the home of one of the people arrested for possible terrorist activities, but never met the man. This is surreal.

Why are Muslims marching in Washington? What possible good can this lead to?

Anyone get the impression that Obama and his Czars want to overwhelm us with crisis so we will be too tired to fight them when they attempt to install the shadow government?

God help us!

This is why I don't think that the DOJ members should be appointed by the President