In a second stunning terror sweep this week, seven associates of a suspected al Qaeda bomb-maker were taken into custody yesterday — as their cohort reportedly admitted to taking bomb training from al Qaeda and playing a key role in planning an attack here.
The FBI detained the seven confederates of Najibullah Zazi, 24 — whose recent, pre-Sept. 11 appearance in New York sparked raids Monday at every Queens home he visited — over the associates’ alleged role in a suspected bomb plot, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
The seven Queens residents had been under 24-hour surveillance since the earlier raids, and some of them already had their homes searched, sources said. There were no criminal charges as of late last night.
In the Monday raid, agents confiscated computers, cellphones and nine identical backpacks. The material is being tested for explosives residue, sources said.
Investigators believe the suspected plotters planned to fill the backpacks with homemade hydrogen-peroxide bombs, then detonate them in simultaneous strikes in the city.
The feds have sent state and local officials details about different hydrogen-peroxide-based explosives.
Three separate memos, dated Wednesday, include descriptions about how to identify specific combinations of explosives, The Associated Press reported.
The FBI’s New York office had no immediate comment.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, where Zazi now lives, both he and his father, Mohammed Zazi, 53, sat separately with FBI agents to explain their travels to Pakistan — and detailed the son’s bomb training by al Qaeda, according to a news report.
Yesterday, the younger Zazi allegedly told probers he was going to lead the attack, being directed by terror thugs from outside the United States.
CBS News reported that investigators have recordings of him talking to an operative who discussed plans for a “wedding,” which probers believe is code for a bombing.
Zazi also is in plea-deal talks with federal authorities, according to ABCnews.com.
The former Queens coffee-cart vendor could admit guilt to a terror charge for receiving demolition training in Afghanistan, then become a cooperating witness for the feds, the report said.
Feds initially were tipped off to Zazi by his frequent travel to Pakistan, sources said.
Zazi visited Pakistan four times in recent years — visits his attorney said were only to visit his wife and family.