After Gadahn (left) announced a new attack on US (read also The Counterterrorism Blog here and here):
NEW YORK (CNN) — Four men have been charged with conspiring to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Homeland Security sources said there is no current threat at the airport and the attack as planned was “not technically feasible.”
The alleged plot did not target airplane flights, officials said.
A wiretap transcript given to CNN by the FBI indicates the plotters targeted the airport because of the popularity its namesake, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
“Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow … they love JFK — he’s like the man,” former JFK airport cargo worker Russell Defreitas said in a telephone conversation monitored by the FBI.
“If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It’s like you can kill the man twice,” Defreitas added.
At a Justice Department news conference Saturday afternoon, the plotters were described as “a determined group” whose signature was persistence.
Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native Guyanan, was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, according to a written statement from the Department of Justice. He was arraigned Saturday in federal court in New York.
The other suspects were identified as Abdul Kadir of Guyana, Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, and Abdel Nur. The United States plans to seek extradition of the three men charged outside the United States.
4 charged with terror plot at JFK airport – CNN.com
Woman honor thyself, has also posted about this.
The Counterterrorism Blog writes about the immigrant ramifications of the JFK Plot:
The take-down of the suspected radical Islamic terror cell threatening to blow up JFK airport yesterday highlights, yet again, key national security issues related to our immigration system. The alleged ringleader of the plot, Russell Defreitas, is reported to be a 63 year old naturalized US citizen from Guyana. It is not yet clear from released information when he naturalized; however, information gleaned from the criminal complaint indicates he developed his Islamic-inspired hatred for America years ago. The question, of course, is did he harbor such anti-American feelings before he became a naturalized US citizen? If he did, he likely would have lied in the process of becoming naturalized.
The other disturbing revelation from the JFK plot complaint (page 12) is how the conspirators planned to assist the smuggling of jihad fighters from Asia into the US through the Caribbean. These alleged conspirators appeared to have access to established alien smuggling operations in Guyana and Trinidad, most likely involving the use of false identification and travel documents. Once again, we see the nexus of alien smuggling and terrorism.
More about this plot from The Counterterrorism Blog:
Jamaat-al-Muslimeen (JAM) is a Trinidad & Tobago homegrown political/Muslim organization that was involved in a bloody (by Caribbean standards) coup attempt in 1990 that resulted in the death of 19 people. The leader, Abu Bakr, is still in T&T and is somewhat of a hot potato politically. He is known to spew some wild allegations and poses more of a threat to T&T via kidnappings and robberies than terrorist acts. He once claimed to have a nuclear device on the north end of T&T. Bakr (whose real name escapes me now) still appears in T&T news trying to enter the political arena. He has been linked to several deaths and kidnappings of former JAM members, some of whom have split from JAM and formed a spin off movement against Abu Bakr.
Many JAM members fled to Brooklyn in 1990 and started their own narcotics organizations when the coup failed. Obviously their adherence to Islam did not outweigh their greed. I always thought they were more of a gang then a dedicated extremist organization. Despite what maybe stated in today’s news, they do not have obvious direct links to al-Qeada. The only link maybe Adnan El-Shukri-Jumah, al-Qaeda’s operative who had distinct links to T&T and Guyana and may have been assisted by JAM members.
Guyana and Haiti have a significant extremist element with a particular Haitian Muslim having links to an Iranian backed cleric linked to the Tri-border area in South America.
JAM is not al-Qaeda, but should be watched closely, which the NY-JTTF does.
Jamaat-al-Muslimeen in Wikipedia. About the coup d’état, it says:
It was the organisation’s leader, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, who led members of the Jamaat in an attempted coup d’état against the elected Government of Trinidad and Tobago in July 1990. Over a six-day period members of the government including then-Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson were held hostage at gun point while chaos and looting broke out in the streets of the capital Port of Spain.
As you can see pacific guys… And this happened back on 1990. Hmm, I confess I had no idea this had happened…
The Strata-Sphere points out the importance of the Surveillance program in detecting the plot:
The official said the plotters had conducted surveillance on giant jet fuel tanks at JFK and the pipeline. They had taken surveillance video of the targets and took it to Trinidad to review the tape, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrests were not yet announced.
The official said investigators first found out about the plot in January 2006. After that, an informant infiltrated the group.
Pastorius has also written at IBA.
More about Jamaat-al-Muslimen (Community of Muslims):
From the latter:
While the Muslimeen are a Sunni group, both Kadir and Ibrahim are Shi’a Muslims.
Hmmmm….Here’s a couple of points about former Parliament member Abdul Kadir:
Abdul Kadir hailed originally from Buxton, East Coast Demerara, and attended St Stanislaus College. While working the night shift at the Guyana Water Authority, he enrolled at the University of Guyana from where he graduated in 1975 with a Higher Technical Diploma in Civil Engineering. He then went on to the University of the West Indies (UWI) where he earned a BSc in Civil Engineering, graduating in 1981. He also studied Islamic theology in Iran.
Well, that helps explain this:
Speaking with the Stabroek News yesterday, Kadir’s daughter Sauda said that her father had been on his way to Iran where he had been invited to attend an Islamic conference when he was arrested. She said that Kadir had left Guyana on Thursday evening for Trinidad from where he was scheduled to travel to Venezuela to pick up his Iranian visa before proceeding to Iran.
It was when he was about to board his flight to Venezuela that he was taken off the plane and told he was being held “for some conspiracy.”
Flight to Venezuela?? Hmm, how strange…
Related links:
The Gathering Storm writes about the Jihadi training camp in upstate New York:
Members of the compound have been sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan for specialized training in guerilla warfare – – a fact confirmed by Thomas P. Gallagher, a Special Agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
The Red House cell of ul-Fuqra has metastasized so that similar Islamic compounds have popped up in neighboring Prince George and Campbell Counties. The 25 acre facility in Prince George County is situated on Mahareen Road, a name selected by the Muslim newcomers and duly approved by the local ordinance officials. Mahareen is the plural of the Arabic mahar, meaning “clever one.” The facility in Campbell County is considerably larger, occupying more than 100 acres. An additional compound reportedly has materialized in Bedford County near the city of Roanoke.
Several Virginia compounds appear to possess obstacle courses, and firing ranges.
Members of the compounds have been known to refer to themselves as “soldiers of Allah” and “Mohammad’s commandos.”
It’s interesting to see what this people are being trained for: guerilla warfare. Now, read what I wrote about Catalonian Jihadi base:
As the recruited ones in Spain lack military formation, knowledge of explosives or urban guerrilla, mainly “are sent for kamikaze actions“, or “are instructed” in military actions. “the danger, as both sources from the National Police and of the Civil Guard have pointed out – is that, once formed as terrorist in those fields or trained in combat in Iraq, the recruit is sent back to Europe to stay latent until the order arrives to them to activate“.
Yeah, that’s right: urban guerilla.
I do not know if someone would get to think about this… but it is a terrible coincidence.
Any light lit? Don’t think so…
The Hill Chronicles, Right Truth have also written about this subject.
Stormwarning’s Counterterrorism writes about the (not confirmed yet) connection with Muhammad El Shukrijumah, named by FBI as the new Atta:
A FBI spokesperson in Miami said the squad assigned to track Shukrijumah was aware of the case but that “no connection” to the wanted al Qaeda suspect was found in the JFK case. The spokesperson said the best available information is that Shukrijumah is with top al Qaeda leaders along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Etiquetas de del.icio.us: JFK airport, terrorism, USA, New York
Etiquetas de Technorati: JFK airport, terrorism, USA, New York
excellent overview…gracias para link! 🙂
Thanks Angel.
De nada. 😉
Lots of things are happening on Venezula and Iran. As they saying goes: Birds of a feather, flock together.
Btw, I’ve changed the domain of my blog to wordpress:
http://plateauofiran.wordpress.com/
Added to the blogroll
Thanks for the mention. I have not heard anything about a link between Shukrijumah and the JFK terrorists. Anything is possible I guess.
It truly is a scary time, Putin in Russia, Chavez in Venezuela, Pakistan in a uproar, Iran saying the button has been pushed on Israel, …
Countdown button pushed on Israel’s destruction
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Uff, Debbie, Sorry, I did not see you had commented
Well, in fact the connection with Al-Shrukijumah is not proofed but I have read about it in 3 places in which they were pointing out some circumstances that looked like were connecting both.
And if he is Atta’s heir, something as big as what they were going to do at JFk probable was known to him. of course, it has to be proved…