Washington, February 18: The father of an Afghan-born airport shuttle driver accused of plotting an al Qaeda-inspired bomb attack on New York City was granted $50,000 bail on Wednesday pending charges he conspired to destroy evidence.
Mohammed Wali Zazi, 54, who was arrested in Denver in January, is expected to be released on Friday, when he will return to his home in Colorado.
His son, Najibullah Zazi, 24, a former coffee vendor who had moved to Colorado, was arrested in September and accused of plotting a bomb attack in New York City on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He has pleaded not guilty.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called it one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the hijacked airliner attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Prosecutors allege the younger Zazi and unnamed associates bought “unusually large quantities” of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply stores in the Denver area that could be used to make triacetone triperoxide, the explosive used in the 2005 London transit bombings that killed 56 and wounded 700. But no chemicals have been recovered.
The father is accused of conspiring to alter, destroy and conceal objects, including liquid chemicals, “with the intent to impair the objects’ integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding.”
If convicted of the charge he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
A New York imam and two men who attended a New York City high school with Zazi also have been charged. All have pleaded not guilty.
According to, Najibullah Zazi’s uncle, Naqib Jaji, 38, has also been arraigned in Brooklyn federal court, and is reported to have pleaded not guilty to one felony count.
—-Agencies