Word: zazie
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Dates: during 2009-2009
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...Najibullah Zazi is everything the FBI says he is, then the Afghan-born Denver airport-shuttle-bus driver represents a new kind of menace for the U.S. His arrest is a double blessing: it may have thwarted a terrorism plot, and it could give counterterrorism officials a goldmine of information on al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the state of the global jihad...
...Media reports quoting anonymous FBI officials have suggested the NYPD botched the case when it showed a picture of Najibullah Zazi, the Denver shuttle-bus driver at the heart of the investigation, to Ahmed Afzali, a Queens Imam and sometime police informant. Afzali, the reports say, first called Zazi's father Mohammed, then Najibullah himself, alerting them to the probe. The FBI, which had been monitoring the calls, was then forced to move immediately to arrest the Zazis - much sooner than it had planned. (Read "2-Min. Bio: Terrorism Suspect Najibullah Zazi...
...respond to TIME's requests for comment on the Zazi case...
...enforcement official familiar with some aspects of the case, speaking with TIME on the condition that neither he nor his organization are named, says the FBI had planned to "leave [Najibullah] Zazi out there for a while," hoping he would make contact with other conspirators in the U.S. and in Pakistan, where he is said to have received training at an al-Qaeda camp. The bureau "had this guy in their sights, and they were comfortable that he was not an immediate threat," says the official. "They thought, 'Let's see how far this guy leads us before we come...
...When Zazi traveled to New York ahead of the anniversary of 9/11, the FBI as a precaution alerted the NYPD. That's when officers from the NYPD's intelligence unit consulted Afzali. "It looks like they did this on their own initiative - they really trusted this Imam," says the law-enforcement official. "But if they'd consulted with the bureau first, they'd have been told not to talk to anybody." (Read "Probe Prompts 'Preventive' Terrorism Raid...