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Feds: Suspect Had Contact With Al-Qaeda Bigwig

Terror group co-founder of took intense interest in would-be bomber

By the Associated Press

Posted Oct 14, 2009 4:42 PM CDT

(AP) – The Denver man accused of plotting a terrorist bombing had contacts with al-Qaeda that went nearly all the way to the top—to an Osama bin Laden confidant believed to be the terrorist group's leader in Afghanistan, say US intelligence officials. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, an Egyptian reputed to be one of the founders of the terrorist network, used a middleman to contact Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi as the 24-year-old man hatched a plot to use homemade backpack bombs in New York.

Al-Yazid's contact with Zazi indicates that al-Qaeda leadership took an intense interest in what US officials have called one of the most serious terrorism threats on US soil since the 9/11 attacks. "Zazi working with the al-Qaeda core is exceptionally alarming," says one anti-terrorism expert. "The al-Qaeda core is capable of far more effective terrorist attacks than terrorists acting on their own, and coordination with the core also enables bin Laden to choose the timing to maximize the benefit to his organization."

This Tuesday, July 22, 2008 image taken from Pakistan's Geo TV shows Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, an Egyptian who heads al-Qaeda's Afghanistan operations.
This Tuesday, July 22, 2008 image taken from Pakistan's Geo TV shows Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, an Egyptian who heads al-Qaeda's Afghanistan operations.   ((AP Photo/Geo TV, file) PAKISTAN OUT, TV OUT, NO SALES)
In this Sept. 17, 2009, file photo, Najibullah Zazi arrives at the federal building for questioning by the FBI in Denver.
In this Sept. 17, 2009, file photo, Najibullah Zazi arrives at the federal building for questioning by the FBI in Denver.   (Ed Andrieski)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
kokuaguy
Oct 15, 2009 2:25 AM CDT
And most importantly, he will not be sent to a legal netherworld such as Gitmo but will be processed by the criminal justice system like the Blind Sheik. Establishment of GITMO was a war crime in itself.
alkaseltzersammich
Oct 14, 2009 11:51 AM CDT
BURN
justme
Oct 14, 2009 11:17 AM CDT
Bash Bush all you want, aren't you glad that his administration set up the intelligence system that nabbed him and so many others?

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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