Federal agents searched the home of a suburban Denver man identified by law enforcement as having a possible link to al-Qaeda, carting away several boxes of evidence.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force went through the home of Najibullah Zazi, as well as the nearby residence of his aunt, Rabia Zazi, FBI special agent Kathleen Wright said on Wednesday.
Zazi denies that he’s a central figure in a terrorism investigation that fed fears of a possible bomb plot and led to several police raids in New York on Monday.
Zazi, 24, was being interviewed at FBI headquarters in Denver late on Wednesday, but was not under arrest, his attorney, Arthur Folsom, said. Zazi provided authorities a DNA sample, a fingerprint, handwriting samples and information about his travel history, Folsom said.
“My client is not involved in any terror plot,” Folsom said. “He answered every question they had.”
Zazi told the Denver Post after he returned to his home late on Wednesday that he was too tired to speak to the media but that he would return to the FBI for more questioning yesterday.
James Davis, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver office, declined to comment, as did the US Attorney’s Office in Denver.
One agent wearing protective clothing escorted a dog belonging to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into Zazi’s apartment. FBI agents left Zazi’s apartment with at least six boxes.
One box was labeled “swabs,” and others were marked “fragile” and “glass.”
Agents also escorted three women and a man from the apartment.
Two of the women covered their faces with headscarves and the third used a canvas chair to shield her face. All were driven away in an SUV.
The searches came a day after two law enforcement officials said that a joint FBI-New York Police Department (NYPD) task force had put Zazi under surveillance because of suspected links to al-Qaeda.
The task force also feared Zazi may be involved in a potential plot involving homemade hydrogen peroxide-based explosives such as those cited in an intelligence warning issued on Monday, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation.
After Zazi traveled to New York over the weekend, FBI agents and police officers armed with search warrants seeking bomb materials searched three apartments and questioned residents in a predominantly Asian neighborhood in Queens.
Naiz Khan, an Afghan immigrant who grew up with Zazi in New York, said the FBI questioned him for about two hours about Zazi, whom he said stayed at his apartment last week.
No arrests were announced and the FBI and the NYPD have refused to discuss the case.
New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Wednesday there were no specific terrorist threats to the city.
“There are no guarantees. We live in a dangerous world,” said Kelly, who called New York the world’s best-protected city.
Monday’s FBI and Homeland Security intelligence warning, issued to police departments nationwide, listed clues that could tip off police to peroxide-based bombs, such as people with burn marks on their hands, faces or arms; foul odors coming from a room or building; and large industrial fans or multiple window fans.
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