Indictment in NY court charges Muslim religious leader in NYC terror plot case
By APTuesday, October 20, 2009
NY indictment charges Muslim religious leader
NEW YORK — An imam at a Queens mosque has been indicted on charges that he lied to federal agents about an Afghan immigrant who was later charged with plotting a bomb attack in New York City.
The indictment was returned Monday in Brooklyn federal court against 53-year-old Ahmad Wais Afzali.
Afzali was accused of tipping off Najibullah Zazi (nah-jee-BOO’-lah ZAH’-zee) that New York Police Department detectives were searching for him. Ron Kuby, a New York lawyer representing the imam, said the indictment “contains a tired rehash of the same baseless allegations that were made when he was arrested.”
Afzali was arrested last month and remains free on bail, though he is required to wear an electronic bracelet.
