Suspect pleads not guilty to New York bomb plot

An Afghan-born man was ordered held without bail by a federal court Tuesday after pleading not guilty to plotting a bomb attack in the United States

Najibullah Zazi, 24, a legal U.S. resident and Colorado airport shuttle driver, was indicted by a grand jury on the charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

Zazi was arrested early last month in Colorado for allegedly lying to federal investigators. He was later transferred to New York where he was indicted on terrorism charges in Brooklyn federal court.

Prosecutors allege Zazi took a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, had bomb-making notes on his laptop, and acquired bomb-making materials similar to those used in the 2005 London attacks, buying acetone and hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply stores.

“I’d like to stop this rush to judgment because what I have seen so far does not amount to a conspiracy,” defense attorney J. Michael Dowling told reporters outside the Brooklyn courthouse. “It is not against the law to buy the materials.”

Law enforcement experts have called the conspiracy, if proven, one of the most significant security threats in the United States since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

“The conspiracy here is international in scope,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Knox, the lead prosecutor in the case.

He said there was “voluminous” evidence, including some obtained through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that will not be presented in open court and only shown in a “secure room.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation admits to conducting surveillance on other suspects it believes may have helped Zazi construct explosives.

Zazi has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence in interviews and through his attorneys. If convicted he could face the maximum penalty of life in prison.