Zazi Admits Ties to Terrorism during Probe

CBS News has learned that Najibullah Zazi, a man identified by law enforcement as having a possible link to al Qaeda, has provided a partial confession to investigators admitting to ties to terrorism, but downplaying his involvement in any terrorist plot.

Prosecutors are said to be exploring the charges that could be brought against Zazi, including material support to terrorism. A conviction could mean up to 15 years in jail, reports CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

According to one source who gets high level intelligence briefings, law enforcement has record of a number of conversations between Zazi and a known al Queda operative in Pakistan. During the conversations the operative tells Zazi what to say if stopped by police, CBS News has learned.

In the conversations there also is a reference to a "wedding" which U.S. law enforcement believes is a code word for an attack, finding no evidence of a real planned wedding.

According to source, law enforcement felt the trip to New York was sudden and Zazi told at least one person not to tell anyone he was going.
The source also said the formula for the explosive TATP was found in his computer when they seized his car.

FBI agents will question Zazi's father, a spokeswoman for the defense team said earlier Friday.

The FBI didn't say why it wanted to talk to Mohammed Zazi, but he will cooperate, said the spokeswoman, Wendy Aiello. She said the father would be questioned later Friday.

FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright said she couldn't comment.

Zazi's son, Najibullah Zazi, was being questioned for a third day Friday. Aeillo said the fact that agents want to speak to the father doesn't signal that they are done questioning the son.

Najibullah Zazi has already undergone hours of questioning this week, and his apartment and his uncle and aunt's home in suburban Denver have been searched.

Najibullah Zazi hasn't been arrested, and his attorney, Arthur Folsom, says he doesn't expect him to be.

An official told the Associated Press that agents have been monitoring Najibullah Zazi and four others in Colorado as part of a terrorism investigation. It wasn't immediately known whether Mohammed Zazi was one of the four.

Folsom said his client has never met with al Qaeda operatives and isn't involved in terrorism.

"He's simply somebody who was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Folsom said Thursday.

Folsom told The Denver Post the agents aren't repeating questions to Zazi but are asking different things.

"They are going through things - the best I can describe it is chronologically. Covering all the bases," Folsum said.

Najibullah Zazi is a driver for an airport shuttle service in Denver. Authorities say he rented a car and drove from Denver to New York, crossing into Manhattan the day before the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

He was stopped in what was described as a routine stop at the George Washington Bridge before he was allowed to go free.

A relative said Zazi drove because he wanted to see the American countryside. Zazi said he went to New York to resolve some issues with a coffee cart he owns in Manhattan, but officials suspected that something more sinister might have been in the works.

FBI agents and police officers with search warrants seeking bomb materials searched three apartments and questioned residents in the neighborhood in Queens where he was staying.

A joint FBI-New York Police Department task force feared Zazi may be involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives like those cited in an intelligence warning issued Monday, said two other law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation.

Folsom said Zazi, 24, was born in Afghanistan in 1985, moved to Pakistan at age 7 and emigrated to the United States in 1999. Zazi's aunt had said earlier that he was born in Pakistan and grew up in Queens, New York City.

Folsom said Zazi has returned to Pakistan four times in recent years: in 2004 because his grandfather was sick and dying, in 2006 to get married, and in 2007 and 2008 to visit his wife.