According to the LA Times:
NEW YORK — Federal investigators on Saturday said they had disrupted a plot by Islamic extremists to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, another alleged plan aiming at America's air travel system and a landmark in its largest city.
The men had gathered detailed surveillance of the airport, made repeated overseas trips and sought help from a radical Islamic organization in Trinidad, said federal officials, citing an investigation underway since January 2006.
"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is unthinkable," said U.S. Atty. Roslynn R. Mauskopf, who represents the Eastern District of New York, at a Saturday afternoon news conference in Manhattan to announce the arrests.
The complaint says Defreitas had greeted the informant and a companion at a mall, saying he recognized them from a Brooklyn mosque. Defreitas and the informant met on occasions after that, and eventually Defreitas invited him into the plot, the complaint says.
The two are described as making four visits to JFK together in January to conduct surveillance and make videotapes of potential targets. The two also traveled to Guyana together, the complaint says.
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President Bush, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, deserve credit for continuing to protect the citizens of the United States from terror attacks here at home. The damage caused by the planned attack would have been severe.
The Administration should be recognized and complimented for the outstanding work that has been accomplished in aggressively investigating and protecting us from terror attacks here in the United States.
NEW YORK — Federal investigators on Saturday said they had disrupted a plot by Islamic extremists to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, another alleged plan aiming at America's air travel system and a landmark in its largest city.
The men had gathered detailed surveillance of the airport, made repeated overseas trips and sought help from a radical Islamic organization in Trinidad, said federal officials, citing an investigation underway since January 2006.
"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is unthinkable," said U.S. Atty. Roslynn R. Mauskopf, who represents the Eastern District of New York, at a Saturday afternoon news conference in Manhattan to announce the arrests.
The complaint says Defreitas had greeted the informant and a companion at a mall, saying he recognized them from a Brooklyn mosque. Defreitas and the informant met on occasions after that, and eventually Defreitas invited him into the plot, the complaint says.
The two are described as making four visits to JFK together in January to conduct surveillance and make videotapes of potential targets. The two also traveled to Guyana together, the complaint says.
* * * *
President Bush, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, deserve credit for continuing to protect the citizens of the United States from terror attacks here at home. The damage caused by the planned attack would have been severe.
The Administration should be recognized and complimented for the outstanding work that has been accomplished in aggressively investigating and protecting us from terror attacks here in the United States.
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