The arrests in New York of Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay were part of “an ongoing investigation” by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, according to Special Agent Richard Kolko, who declined to comment further.
There were no immediate details on the charges against the men, according to Kolko and Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn.
Medunjanin’s attorney said the FBI seized his client’s passport on Thursday. Robert C Gottlieb said the search warrant indicated the passport was sought as part of an investigation into a conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The airport driver, Najibullah Zazi, previously pleaded not guilty to that charge. He is accused of getting al-Qaeda training to build homemade bombs to attack New York City.
Gottlieb said he was not officially notified that Medunjanin had been arrested after being treated for minor injuries from a traffic accident.
“As of 1 am, law enforcement — both federal and state — was refusing to confirm that they had him in custody,” said Gottlieb, who insists that Medunjanin has done nothing wrong. “They intentionally hid him from his lawyer and his family.”
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