Najibullah Zazi Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography and more

Najibullah Zazi is an Afghan-American citizen and former al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted to bomb the New York City subway system in 2009. He was arrested by the FBI in 2009 and freed in 2019 with lifetime supervised release.

Wiki/Biography

Najibullah Zazi was born on Saturday, 10 August 1985 (age 37 years; as of 2022) in Paktia Province, Afghanistan. His zodiac sign is Leo. His father moved to the United States on August 8, 1990, while he remained in Afghanistan with his family. In 1992, he moved to Peshawar, Pakistan with his family as Afghan refugees. In 1999, he moved to the Flushing neighborhood in Queens, New York, United States, where he attended Flushing High School; However, he dropped out of school in his senior year to help his father with his work. He lived in a one-bedroom apartment with his family and worked as a cashier at a Norian supermarket grocery store and a restaurant before becoming a coffee and pastry salesman. From 2004 to 2009, he worked as a coffee and pastry cart vendor in New York with a ‘God Bless America’ sign on his cart.

Physical Appearance

Height (Approx): 5′ 10″

Weight (Approx): 65 kg

Hair Color: Black

Eye colour: black

Family

parents and siblings

His father’s name is Mohammad Wali Zazi. He has 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

Najibullah Zazi’s father, Mohammad Wali Zazi

wife and children

He married his 19-year-old cousin in Peshawar, Pakistan in 2006. His wife and 2 daughters live in Pakistan.

Religion

He follows Islam.

Training in Al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan

He began listening to fundamentalist Muslim clerics around 2005, and in 2008, he began watching videos of mortar and suicide attacks by al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He leased his car to another vendor and moved to Peshawar, Pakistan in August 2008 with his school-time friends Zarin Ahmadze and Addis Medunjanin. They intended to fight US forces in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban; However, he met with al-Qaeda operatives and went to an al-Qaeda camp in the Waziristan region of Pakistan. At an al-Qaeda training camp, she learned to use an AK-47, rocket-propelled grenades, and make bombs from common materials such as nail polish remover, hydrogen peroxide, butter, and flour. A senior leader, Saleh al-Somali, convinced him and his friends to return to the United States and carry out suicide attacks. He made long notes about the preparation of the explosives and sent them over email for future reference. He discussed potential targets in the US with al-Qaeda operatives and gave money and computers to al-Qaeda leaders before returning to the US on January 15, 2009.

Change in behavior and bankruptcy

According to one person, Najibullah was religious yet he abhorred acts of violence and condemned the 9–11 terrorist attacks; However, when Najibullah began reading and listening to religious texts in 2007, his behavior changed, which was noticed by everyone around him. His friends, neighbors and customers noticed that he was not as sociable as before. He grew a long beard, wore prayer beads, and wore tunics instead of his Western-style clothing. He tried to sell the Quran to one of his customers. He once had a fight with one of his customers when he argued that money alone cannot make anyone happy. He purchased and used 7-8 credit cards of different companies from April 2008 to August 2008. After his return from Pakistan in January 2009, a representative of GreenPath Debt Solutions conducted a telephonic counseling session with him. He filed for bankruptcy in New York State on March 26, 2009, with debts of $51,000, which was discharged on August 17, 2009.

Going to Colorado and arranging materials

After returning from Pakistan in January 2009, he moved to Aurora, Colorado to live with his uncle and aunt. He took a job as a driver in Big Sky Company. Later, he worked as a driver at ABC Airport Shuttle and drove a 15-person airport shuttle van between Downtown Denver and Denver International Airport. Around June 2009, he started collecting materials to make a bomb. He did several internet searches to find hydrochloric acid. They purchased large quantities of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply warehouses and stores. Once a warehouse employee asked why he was purchasing such large quantities, Najibullah replied that he had too many girlfriends. In July 2009, his parents also moved to Aurora, Colorado and he started living with them. FBI officials listened to his phone conversations and monitored him for several months. In August 2009, the FBI overheard a conversation in which he was discussing a mixture of chemicals. He checked into the Aurora Motel Suite on August 28 and September 6 and 7. When officials checked the suite, they found traces of chemicals in the suite’s pipe vent.

Drive to New York and return to Colorado

On September 8, 2009, he rented a car from Hertz Car Rental Company, and on the morning of September 9, he began the 1800-mile (2900 km) journey by car from Colorado to New York with his laptop and the materials he had on hand. Accumulated. FBI agents pursued him, and on September 9, 2009, two detectives from the New York City Police Department’s Intelligence Division contacted their informant, Ahmed Vais Afzali, a Muslim cleric, with photographs of Najibullah and his friends. Afzali identified three photographs, including Najibullah’s photograph, and informed the detectives about them. Najibullah arrived in New York on 10 September 2009 and stayed at the home of his childhood friend Naiz Khan in Flushing, Queens. He planned to bomb New York subway trains. Najibullah planned with his friends to carry out coordinated suicide bombings using backpacks near the Grand Central and Times Square stations in Manhattan during rush hour. They also conducted recce of subway stations to identify locations where bombs could be detonated. The FBI requested Port Authority Police to search Najibullah’s car, and as he drove onto the George Washington Bridge, his car was stopped under the pretext of a routine drug test. His car was searched; However, nothing suspicious was found and he was allowed to leave. On 11 September 2009, he received a call from his father, who informed him that he was being searched by the authorities and asked to speak to Ahmed Vais Afzali. Apparently, after the officers left, Ahmed Vais Afzali had called Najibullah’s father and informed him about the ongoing search for Najibullah. Later, the same day, Najibullah’s car was towed by police for parking violations. Najibullah called Ahmed Vais Afzali and said that he was being watched and his car had been stolen by the people watching him. Ahmed asked him if there was any evidence in the car, to which Najibullah denied. FBI agents searched his car, and in his laptop, they found images of 9 handwritten pages related to making and detonating explosives, which they claimed were in Najibullah’s handwriting. Upon realizing that an investigation was underway, Najibullah and his group threw away the bomb-making materials. On September 12, 2009, he flew to Denver, Colorado.

Evidence and arrest

On September 14, 2009, FBI agents raided the home in New York where he was staying, and found his fingerprints on a scale, several AA batteries, and dozens of black backpacks. They also issued an alert for hydrogen peroxide based bombs. Najibullah voluntarily appeared with his attorney on September 16, and was interrogated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force at the FBI offices in Denver. During an 8-hour long interrogation, he denied having any knowledge of the pages found on his laptop and claimed that he might have downloaded them by mistake. When reporters asked him about his trip to New York, he told them that he had gone to resolve issues related to his coffee cart. Interrogated by FBI agents on 17 and 18 September 2009, he admitted receiving weapons and explosives training in Pakistan. On 19 September 2009, he was arrested and on 21 September 2009, he was charged with making false statements in a case. Terrorism in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. On September 23, 2009, the previous charges were dropped and new charges were filed against Najibullah in the Eastern District of New York. In February 2010, he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property in the United States, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to a terrorist organization. He was held as a federal prisoner in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He was initially scheduled to be sentenced on June 25, 2010; However, in April 2010 he was moved to a secret location.

Najibullah Zazi is escorted by US marshals as he enters Brooklyn, New York

Cooperating with agencies and blaming family members and friends

Najibullah cooperated with agencies after agents threatened to charge his parents with immigration fraud. He provided vital information about his associates, which led to their arrest and further conviction. On September 19, 2009, FBI agents arrested his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, on charges of destroying evidence and lying to investigators. On 10 February 2012, Mohammad Wali Zazi was sentenced to four years in prison, and on 30 November 2018, his US citizenship was revoked, and he was deported back to Afghanistan on 4 February 2022. On 7 January 2010, his friend Addis Medunjanin was arrested. Police arrested. While the police were searching his house, he attempted to flee in his car and was then hit by another car. Najibullah cried while standing on the witness stand during the trial against Addis Medunjanin. On 16 November 2012, Addis was sentenced to life imprisonment. He testified against his associate Zarin Ahmadzay, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 14 December 2018. FBI agents also arrested their informant, Ahmed Wais Afzali, for lying about Najibullah. He reached a deal with authorities and left the US in July 2010. In 2017, he testified against another al-Qaeda terrorist, Muhannad Mahmoud al Farekh, about providing training to Muhannad at an al-Qaeda camp in 2007.

Final verdict and release

On May 2, 2019, he was sentenced by a federal court to 10 years of imprisonment with lifetime supervised release, including time he had already served. Since he had already been behind bars for a long time, he was released after a few days.

Facts/General Knowledge

• In his bankruptcy petition he declared himself unmarried.

• He used to watch videos of Indian preacher Zakir Naik on YouTube during his youth and considered him as his inspiration.

• He met American citizen Bryant Neil Vinas at an al-Qaeda training camp in Waziristan, Pakistan. Bryant was also recruited by al-Qaeda and trained with Najibullah.

• His family name is shared with a tribe from the Paktia province of Afghanistan.

• His surname is Salauddin.

• He was fond of gadgets in his youth. He often took his basketball and prayer mat to the store when he worked as a cashier.

• While he was in prison, he obtained his General Equivalency Diploma (GED) and 16 certifications in various courses offered by the Bureau of Prisons.

• Scotland Yard had given information about Najibullah to the FBI. Scotland Yard officers, under ‘Operation Pathway’, intercepted an email which was sent to Najibullah by a member of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

• It was later revealed in 2009 that he had planned to carry out bombings similar to the 2005 London bombings.

• On the Internet he befriended Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a medical assistant who was arrested in March 2010 on terrorism charges.

Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn