NEW YORK (AP) — An imam has pleaded not guilty charges he lied to FBI agents investigating an Afghan immigrant who was later charged with plotting a bomb attack in New York City.
Ahmad Afzali was arraigned Monday in Brooklyn federal court. He was arrested in September amid an investigation of Colorado airport van driver Najibullah Zazi.
Zazi has been accused of receiving training from al-Qaida to build homemade bombs in a possible plot to attack the New York transit system.
Prosecutors allege that the 53-year-old Afzali telephoned Zazi after being questioned by police and told Zazi he was under surveillance. They say he then lied by claiming he never tipped off Zazi, a charge he has denied.
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