Father of NY plotter says not guilty of new charges

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The father of an Afghan-born man who admitted to plotting an al Qaeda-inspired bomb attack on New York City pleaded not guilty Thursday to a fresh set of charges.

Mohammed Wali Zazi, 54, faced six counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering, according to the new charges unsealed in Brooklyn federal court in November.

His son, Najibullah Zazi, was arrested in September 2009 and pleaded guilty to plotting a bomb attack in New York City on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. He is cooperating with officials as he awaits sentencing.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called it one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the hijacked airliner attacks of September 11, 2001.

Zazi's father, who lives near Denver, Colorado, and traveled to New York for the hearing, had pleaded not guilty in February to one charge of obstruction of justice.

His attorneys Thursday repeated their intention to take the case to trial.

Prosecutors accuse Mohammed Wali Zazi of conspiring to alter, destroy and conceal objects, including liquid chemicals, "with the intent to impair the objects' integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding."

A New York imam and two men who attended a New York City high school with Zazi were also charged. One of the men, Adis Medunjanin, has pleaded not guilty. The imam, Ahmad Afzali, and the other man, Zarein Ahmedzay, have admitted their role in the plot.

(Reporting by Basil Katz; Editing by Jackie Frank)