Officials: N.Y. attack was set for Sept. 11

WIRE REPORTSPublished: September 26, 2009 -----Richmond -Times Dispatch
DENVER -- An Afghan immigrant wanted to carry out a New York City terror attack involving hydrogen peroxide bombs to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary before federal authorities foiled the plan, a U.S. prosecutor said yesterday.
Tim Neff told a federal judge in Denver that Najibullah Zazi "was in the throes of making a bomb and attempting to perfect his formulation."
"The evidence suggests a chilling, disturbing sequence of events showing the defendant was intent on making a bomb and being in New York on 9/11, for purposes of perhaps using such items," Neff said in arguing for Zazi's transfer to New York.
Ken Deal, chief deputy U.S. marshal in Denver, said Zazi was put on a U.S. government plane after U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer ordered Zazi transferred to New York City to face charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. He arrived late yesterday.
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Alleged Ill., Texas plots: Two men were in custody yesterday after each tried to blow up what they thought were vehicles packed with explosives outside a Texas skyscraper and an Illinois courthouse, authorities said.
The two cases were unconnected to each other and to the New York-Denver investigation.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, a Jordanian who lives in Texas, appeared in court in Dallas yesterday after federal officials said he parked what he thought was an explosive-laden truck in a parking garage under the 60-story Fountain Place office tower in Dallas.
Michael C. Finton, 29, who also went by the name Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday in Springfield, Ill., after federal officials said he attempted to detonate what he believed to be explosives in a van outside a federal courthouse in the Illinois capital.
In both cases, decoy devices were provided to the men by FBI agents posing as al-Qaida operatives. Both are charged with trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction and face up to life in prison if convicted.