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Anybody read this MSNBC story? Sounds like a good catch to me.
NEW YORK - A grand jury has indicted terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi on a charge of conspiracy to detonate bombs after the U.S. government alleged that he plotted for more than a year, had recently bought bomb-making ingredients and was looking for "urgent" help in the past two weeks to make explosives.
Zazi, arrested in Denver last weekend on a count of lying to terrorism investigators, was charged in New York with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The two-page indictment offers few details, but a separate document released Thursday a government motion seeking to deny bail to the 24-year-old Afghan immigrant lays out evidence gathered by investigators in a long investigation into a possible al-Qaida plot.
The airport shuttle driver began plotting to "use one or more weapons of mass destruction" between Aug. 1, 2008, and September 2009 against the United States, the papers say.
In July and August, Zazi purchased unusually large amounts of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply stores in the Denver metropolitan area, the document says.
He also searched the Internet for home improvement stores in Queens before driving a rental car for a two-day trip to the city, the document says.
The document says that on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, Zazi tried on multiple times to communicate with another individual "seeking to correct mixtures of ingredients to make explosives."
"Each communication," the papers say, was "more urgent than the last."
Chemical residue allegedly found
On those days, Zazi rented a suite at a hotel where he lives in Aurora, Colo., authorities charge. The room had a kitchen, and subsequent FBI testing for explosives in the suite found chemical residue in the vent above the stove.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that "we are investigating a wide range of leads related to this alleged conspiracy, and we will continue to work around the clock to ensure that anyone involved is brought to justice.
"We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted," he added.
Zazi has publicly denied any terrorist plotting but authorities have said he admitted to the FBI that he took a bomb-making course at an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan.
The documents don't specify a specific time and place of a possible attack, but counterterrorism agents feared he and others might have been planning to detonate homemade bombs on New York City commuter trains.
Newsweek reported Thursday that investigators have not yet recovered all of the explosives components they accuse Zazi of purchasing. Two counter-terrorism officials close to the investigation said recovery of the materials was part of the "ongoing investigation."
I can almost picture an old gray-haired ninja grandma hopping all over the plane sticking everybody with her needles. Fun mental picture
