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'Cop Tipster' Imam May Have Alerted Terror Ring

Imam recorded on phone warning alleged ringleader of terror probe

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 23, 2009 3:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – A Queens imam was secretly recorded in a phone conversation warning a Denver terror suspect that law enforcement authorities were moving in, reports AP. Authorities are now investigating if imam Ahmad Wais Afzali may have used his role as a presumably reliable New York police department tipster to glean information about investigations. "They came to ask me about your character. They asked me about you guys," the imam told Najibullah Zazi before his arrest last week.

Investigators now fear that a terror plot against New York City may have survived the arrest of its alleged ringleader, ABC News reports. Authorities have been ordered to be on the alert as agents search for the spot where Zazi and others may have assembled a bomb. "I have never been so worried," said one senior counter terrorism official.

[Images (2)]

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Najibullah Zazi arrives at the offices of the FBI in Denver for questioning earlier this month. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Two police officers speak to each other inside Grand Central Station in New York yesterday. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

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This investigation is going forward aggressively. We are doing everything we can to protect the city.
- New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly

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'Cop Tipster' Imam May Have Alerted Terror Ring