New terror plot details mirror Oklahoma City bombing

Multiple sources saynthat twenty-four-year-old terror suspect Najibullah Zazi and several accomplices were videotaped trying to rent U-Haul trucks in Aurora. U-Haul International, Inc. confirmed Wednesday afternoon that it turned over security camera tapes to the FBI. The attempts at renting U-Haul trucks happened in the week leading up to the Sept. 11 anniversary, according to multiple sources.

In the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City, American terrorists used rental trucks packed with explosives to level a federal building, killing 168 people and injuring more than 600 others. In 1993, terrorists used a vehicle filled with explosives in an attack on the World Trade Center that killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others.

Bryan Cunningham, who is a former Department of Justice Attorney, former Senior CIA officer and a drafter of the Homeland Security Act said this information could detail a plot larger than previously thought.

"If you're now talking about them trying to use U-Hauls as bombs, that is a much, much, much bigger operation. Remember Oklahoma City?" said Cunningham. "This creates a much bigger order of magnitude threat. If in fact they were renting multiple vehicles, that's a very serious concern," Cunningham said. "That's another trademark of Al-Qaeda: multiple, simultaneous attacks."

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Imam Arrested in Terror Inquiry Appears in Court

A figure in what authorities describe as a widening inquiry into a possible plot to detonate homemade bombs in the United States appeared in a New York City courtroom on Monday on charges that he lied to federal investigators about the investigation.The suspect, Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, is a popular imam in Queens who often served as a source of information for local and federal authorities and may not be implicated in the possible bombing plot. But he was arraigned in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on charges that he tipped off Najibullah Zazi, the plot’s central figure, that investigators were shadowing him and then lied about doing so when questioned.

The imam, a slight and long-bearded man, walked into Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak’s courtroom wearing a long flowing light-brown tunic and sandals and carrying a white-trimmed black coat. The judge ordered Mr. Afzali held until a bail hearing on Thursday. Court papers released Sunday described a plot by Mr. Zazi to set off homemade bombs and said that Mr. Zazi had been trained in weapons and explosives in Pakistan and had made nine pages of handwritten notes on how to make and handle bombs.

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Suspect in terror probe admits ties to al Qaeda

A 24-year-old Colorado resident and Afghan national who is a suspect in an alleged terrorist plot in the United States has admitted to having ties to al Qaeda, an administration official familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.

Either a plea deal or charges are possible for the man, identified as Najibullah Zazi. Zazi began meeting in Denver with the FBI at 9 a.m. Friday for the third consecutive day, and was still there by nightfall. Zazi's father Mohammed met for three hours Friday afternoon with the FBI, then returned to his home.

The alleged terrorist plot, which came to light this week after raids in New York, may have been targeting a major transportation center, such as a large railroad or subway station, sources close to the investigation told CNN on Thursday.

There were plans for an attack, presumably in the New York area, where crowds are large and security screening for travelers who are not flying is lax, the sources said.

While DHS and the FBI have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, they believe it is prudent to remind transit authorities to remain vigilant

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