NYC Terror Plot Suspect Zazi Contacted by Al Qaeda's Afghan Head

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

AP

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sept. 25: Najibullah Zazi, center, is escorted off an NYPD helicopter by U.S Marshals after being extradited from Denver, Colo.

NEW YORK — Intelligence officials say the terrorist operative who contacted an Afghan immigrant accused of plotting a New York attack was the head of Afghanistan's Al Qaeda operations.

The U.S. officials say Mustafa Abu al-Yazid used an intermediary to contact the 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi, of Colorado, as he hatched a plot to attack New York's mass transit system.