2 more arrest in Zazi terror case

NY Times:

Two young men from Queens who had traveled to Pakistan in 2008 with a Denver airport shuttle bus driver who later was charged in a Qaeda bomb plot were arrested early Friday morning in connection with the case, according to the F.B.I.

The two men, Adis Medunjanin, 25, and Zarein Ahmedzay, 24, came under intense scrutiny during the investigation that led to a federal bombing conspiracy indictment against the shuttle bus driver, Najibullah Zazi, 24, in September, and have remained under investigation, officials have said.

The charges against Mr. Medunjanin and Mr. Ahmedzay — who both attended Flushing High School, as did Mr. Zazi — were not immediately made available on Friday morning. But the two men were expected to be arraigned later in the day in federal court in Brooklyn, where the charges were lodged against Mr. Zazi.

“Early this morning, Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay were arrested by the F.B.I.- N.Y.P.D. Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said James M. Margolin, a spokesman for the bureau’s New York office. He referred additional questions to the office of the Brooklyn United States Attorney, Benton J. Campbell, which is prosecuting the case and overseeing the investigation. A spokesman for Mr. Campbell declined comment.

A lawyer for Mr. Medunjanin, a United States citizen who is originally from Bosnia, has consistently denied that his client had any role in any terrorist plot or was involved in any wrongdoing. On Friday morning, the lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb, accused the authorities of keeping his client away from him and from relatives, and said any statements Mr. Medunjanin may have made if he was questioned on Thursday night or Friday morning would therefore be inadmissible.

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Gottlieb is in full lawfare high dudgeon. It is one of the problems with treating enemy activity as a criminal matter. If this were a ticking bomb case they system would favor mass murder in protection of terrorist rights. Gottlieb is obviously a very committed defender of his client. We better all hope he was not up to something at the time of his arrest.