up key fuel facilities of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said Saturday, June 2.
The attacks would result in destruction of "the whole of Kennedy," a suspect said in a recorded conversation, according to a statement releaed to media. He predicted very few survivors. Three of the suspects detained in the joined operation were identified as Russell Defreitas — a former airport employee, Guyanese ex-legislator Abdul Kadir and Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim.
In Port-of-Spain, Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul said that Kadir and Ibrahim were arrested in Trinidad on Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31 respectively, news reports said. Kadir was reportedly a former mayor and lawmaker in his country with the Peoples National Congress Reform-One Guyana (PNCR-1G).
The fourth suspect, Abdel Nur, also a Guyanese citizen, is believed to be hiding in Trinidad and Tobago, Paul added, though US officials said they believed he was at large in Guyana, the French News Agency (AFP) reported. Amid initial confusion, previous reports had identified the detained suspects differently.
The suspects reportedly had links to international terrorist cells in the Caribbean and South America but was foiled well before it could be carried out. "The defendants are charged with conspiring to bomb one of the busiest airports in the United States, located in one of the most densely populated areas in the north-east," US Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf told reporters.
It is the second major terror plot against US interests to be unraveled in recent weeks. Six people were arrested a month ago in an alleged plot to unleash a bloody rampage on Fort Dix army base in New Jersey. Other alleged plots believed to have been thwarted in New York since the September 11 attacks included plans to blow up a subway station and to bomb commuter train tunnels linking Manhattan to New Jersey.
The latest plot announced Saturday, June 2, which involved blowing up the airport’s fuel tanks and a pipeline, was still in the planning stage, officials said.
FOUR SUSPECTS
In a statement, the US Justice Department said the four suspects were charged with conspiring
to attack JFK airport "by planting explosives to blow up the airport’s major jet-fuel supply tanks and pipeline."
US authorities said the plot went back to January, 2006, and would have involved blowing up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at JFK, which handles 1,000 flights and more than 120,000 passengers daily. The pipeline network extends into neighborhoods which could have been devastated.
A major target on the list of the suspects was a 40 mile (64km) pipeline carrying jet fuel to two other airports in the area – LaGuardia and Newark Liberty – was also a target, networks quoted police as saying.
However following the arrests, "There is no threat to air safety or the public related to this plot," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told reporters in Washington. White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo told reporters that only President George W. Bush had been briefed on the investigation and that the operation was "a good example of international counter-terrorism co-operation."
American officials said the suspects never got hold of explosive devices, but the latest plot suggeted that terrorist networks use a new strategy. said Pat D’Amuro, a security analyst for the US Cable News Network (CNN). "We have known for some time that Al Quaeda tried to use other methods to send terrorists into the United States, and other areas of the globe to gain access the United States," he explained.
ATTACKING INFRASTRUCTURE
He added that terrorists know that by attacking the infrastructure "they are going to have significant impact on the United States." That was confirmed by one of the suspects. "Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States… If you hit that, his whole country will be in mourning," Defreitas was alleged to have said in a recorded conversation.
In another conversation recorded by a US agent he was alleged to have said: "Even the twin towers can’t touch it," referring to the attack on the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001 that killed more than 3,000 people. "This can destroy the economy of America for some time," Defreitas was alleged to have said.
D’Amuro suggested the latest plot has underscored that America should improve its technology and background checks as, "There are third world countries now that are more advanced than the USA in issuing identifying cards to their citizens." Kadir, an engineer by training, explained to his alleged co-conspirators that the fuel tanks would require two explosions, which analysts said suggested that the plotters had some technical expertise.
It was not immediately clear what new security measures would be taken, but the move was expected to be welcome news for Bush who has made what he calls "the war on terror" a key component of his political agenda at a time when his party is struggling to extend its voter-base ahead of the 2008 presidential race. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Monitoring and reporting from the United States. BosNewsLife’s Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF), an initiative following the threats of our time).
