A suspected “al Qaeda” associate who prompted anti-terror raids on three city homes trained with the terror organization in Pakistan with several other Queens residents, The Post has learned.
The suspect, an Afghani identified only as “Najibullah,” since returned to the United States and was living in Denver.
It was unclear how long he and his cohorts trained with the group or when they were there.
The Monday raids on homes Najibullah visited were aimed at finding bomb making materials — and came after he drove cross-country to Queens.
Najibullah, an Afghani, has since flown home to Colorado.
The FBI, meanwhile, is furious with the NYPD for bungled intelligence gathering that tipped off Najibullah that he was under surveillance, sources said.
Federal agents working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force asked their NYPD counterparts to discreetly gather intel on Najibullah.
Rather than slyly contact their list of sources and informants the NYPD canvassed the suspect’s old Flushing neighborhood and flashed around his picture.
Eventually the imam of the Masjid Hazrat Abu Bakr Islamic Center learned of the investigation and contacted the man’s family to let them know that he was subject of a law enforcement inquiry.
The feds “are mad about it,” the source said.
NYPD spokseman Paul Browne “Any notions of a rift are an utter fabrication.”
But sources said the FBI would have preferred to lie in wait a little longer to see what the suspect and his contacts were planning.
Instead they raided three homes Najibullah visited. They confiscated cell phones and computers and questioned residents although no one was charged with any crime.
No bomb-making materials were recovered.
Meanwhile, FBI and Homeland Security put out nationwide warning that listed indicators of homemade hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, like burns on suspects bodies and faces, foul odors from buildings and multiple, large window fans.
Federal agents working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force asked their NYPD counterparts to discreetly gather intel on a former Queens resident believed to have terrorist ties and bomb-making know-how.
Rather than slyly contact their list of sources and informants the NYPD canvassed the suspect’s old Flushing neighborhood and flashed around his picture.
Eventually the imam of the Masjid Hazrat Abu Bakr Islamic Center learned of the investigation and contacted the man’s family to let them know that he was subject of a law enforcement inquiry.
The suspect, identified only as “Najibullah,” then flew home to Denver.
The feds “are mad about it,” the source said.
But NYPD spokseman Paul Browne said, “Any notions of a rift are an utter fabrication.”
The FBI would have preferred to lie in wait a little longer to see what the suspect and his contacts were planning.
Instead they raided three homes Najibullah visited. They confiscated cell phones and computers and questioned residents although no one was charged with any crime.
No bomb-making materials were recovered.
Meanwhile, FBI and Homeland Security put out nationwide warning that listed indicators of homemade hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, like burns on suspects bodies and faces, foul odors from buildings and multiple, large window fans.