Has the trail has run cold in the Najibullah Zazi terror investigation? While some officials say no additional arrests are expected for the foreseeable future, others suggest associates of Zazi remain under FBI scrutiny.
When asked about the Zazi case, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly would only say the investigation is "ongoing." FBI spokesman Richard Kolko declined comment except to say, "The Joint Terrorism Task Forces in New York and Denver are still covering numerous leads in this ongoing investigation."
When Zazi was arrested in September, there was a massive FBI manhunt to question as many as a dozen others who were in contact with the terror suspect. Investigators said they were concerned Zazi was in contact with associates in Queens and Denver. Several of them were believed to have tried to help Zazi buy chemicals.
But law enforcement officials said they have not found any of the chemicals Zazi allegedly bought for bomb making. They say at this time, there is not enough evidence to charge anyone else in the case.
Zazi is due in Brooklyn federal court Thursday for a hearing on the terror charges.
In raids in Flushing, investigators questioned several men who know Zazi including 24 year-old Adis Medunjanin. Medunjanin's attorney, Robert Gottlieb, said his client has not been contacted by the FBI in weeks.
"I have not heard anything and its obvious there is no evidence against my client," Gottlieb said. "(Medunjanin) will be relieved that the nightmare is over. He has said from the beginning he has done nothing to suggest he was involved in terrorism."
Local
Another man who was questioned, Naiz Khan, first told News 4 New York he did nothing wrong. He said he only allowed Zazi to stay in his apartment to sleep. A third person who was questioned, cab driver Zarein Ahmedzay, has not responded to repeated attempts to contact him.
Officials have not publicly cleared anyone as the investigation continues. A spokesman for US Attorney Benton Campbell did not comment.
The FBI said Zazi traveled to Pakistan for al Qaeda-linked terror training. Prosecutors said he was planning to build and set off a bomb likely in New York. In his speech to the nation Tuesday night, President Obama referred to the charges against Zazi alleging he "received detailed bomb-making instructions in Pakistan."
Zazi's lawyer denies his client was involved in any terror plot.
Two others have been arrested in the case for allegedly lying to the FBI. Zazi's father and Queen Imam Ahmad Afzali are charged with helping tip Zazi off about the investigation. They are not charged with helping in the alleged plot and their lawyers deny any wrongdoing.
Jonathan Dienst WNBC
