Father of terror plot suspect pleads not guilty

Mohammed Wali Zazi, the father of the Denver shuttle bus driver accused of a New York City bomb plot, was held without bail Tuesday after his arraignment on obstruction-of-justice charges in federal court in Brooklyn.

Zazi, 54, was arrested and charged last week in Colorado. He is accused of conspiracy to tamper with chemicals, masks, containers and other equipment sought by a grand jury in connection with the case of his son, Najibullah Zazi. Both Zazis formerly lived in Queens.

Mohammed Zazi, a native Afghan, pleaded not guilty through a Pashtun interpreter Tuesday. Magistrate Stephen Gold ordered him detained after prosecutors said the seriousness of the charges made him a flight risk. He is due back in court on March 2.

Najibullah Zazi, charged last year with buying up peroxide to make a bomb and driving to New York City, also is being held without bail. Attorney General Eric Holder has said he was at the center of the most dangerous domestic terror plot since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.