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2007-06-02 Home Front: WoT

Report: Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport plot

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Posted by tipper 2007-06-02 13:11|| || Front Page|| [11128 views ] Top

#1 I wonder what the Baptists are upset about THIS time?? I know what you're thinking...it COULD have been the Mormons or Shintoists. Still, blowing up innocent civilians sounds like the "Religion of Peace" to me. And wasn't that the Baptists? Gotta go check my facts! :)

Posted by Justrand 2007-06-02 14:33|| 2007-06-02 14:33|| Front Page Top

#2 This is just another BushCo scam to get us all lathered up so he can get re-elected. I ain't afraid of no ~~ghosts~~ extremists.

Posted by Bobby 2007-06-02 16:20|| 2007-06-02 16:20|| Front Page Top

#3 Muzzie, including an imam, (not a Baptist imam.)

Posted by Solomon Thrinemp1792 2007-06-02 16:22|| 2007-06-02 16:22|| Front Page Top

#4 Just saw the mug-shots of these three Jihadi wannabes.

Now, I'm no expert on profiling...but in the dictionary under: "Terrorist", I'm pretty sure there are pictures of these guys!

Posted by Justrand 2007-06-02 17:28|| 2007-06-02 17:28|| Front Page Top

#5 Heh heh, getting purdy good Bobby.

Posted by Shipman 2007-06-02 17:48|| 2007-06-02 17:48|| Front Page Top

#6 More as of 5 pm:

Several men were charged today with plotting to destroy New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) by planting explosives to blow up massive jet-fuel supply tanks and a 40-mile pipeline.
The arrests include Russell Defreitas, a Brooklyn resident who was born in Guyana and a former airport cargo worker. Trinidad officials arrested Kareem Ibrahim, a Trinidad citizen, and Abdul Kadir, a former member of the Guyanese parliament. A fourth suspect still at large has been identified as Abdel Nur, a Guyanese national.
Roslynn Mauskopf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, called it "one of the most chilling plots imaginable."
In a recorded conversation following one of the surveillance missions to JFK airport, "Mr. Defreitas predicted that the attacks would result in the destruction of 'the whole of Kennedy,' that only a few people would survive the attack, and that because of the location of the targeted fuel pipelines, part of Queens would explode," the criminal complaint said.
The arrests were made Friday night following a five-month investigation by the Joint Terrorist Task Force, and the men were charged today with conspiring to attack JFK airport by planting explosives to blow up the airport's major jet-fuel supply tanks and the Buckeye Pipeline.
The airport handles 1,000 flights per day, nearly half of which are international. Each year, approximately 45 million passengers and more than 1.5 million tons of cargo with an estimated value of $120 billion move through JFK.
The Buckeye Pipeline distributes fuel and other petroleum products to sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the New York boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens.
U.S. authorities say the men obtained satellite photographs of the airport and surrounding facilities from the Internet and traveled frequently between the United States, Guyana, and Trinidad to discuss their plans and solicit the financial and technical assistance of others.
The plot was presented to radical groups in South America and the Caribbean, including senior leadership of Jamaat Al Muslimeen (JAM), which was responsible for a deadly coup attempt in Trinidad in 1990.
Mr. Kadir and Mr. Nur "were longtime associates of JAM leaders," the complaint said.
"The defendants sought to combine an insider's knowledge of JFK Airport with the assistance of Islamic radicals in the Caribbean to produce an attack that they boasted would be so devastating to the airport that 'even the Twin Towers can't touch it,'" said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security.
An informant working with law enforcement agents began monitoring the plot in its early stages and made numerous recordings. In one discussion, authorities said, Mr. Defreitas said JFK Airport holds symbolic importance for Americans.
"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow ... They love John F. Kennedy like he's the man ... If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice," the complaint quoted him as saying, adding that he also bragged last month that the plot "can destroy the economy of America for some time."
The men plotted to disable the airport control tower monitors at the fuel tank locations and ignite two explosions to provide enough oxygen to ignite the inner tank.
"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 Northeast. Had the plot been carried out, it could have resulted in unfathomable damage, deaths, and destruction," Miss Mauskopf said.

And from the AP:

Four Muslim men were foiled from carrying out a plot to destroy John F. Kennedy International Airport, kill thousands of people and trigger an economic catastrophe by blowing up a jet fuel artery that runs through populous residential neighborhoods, authorities said Saturday.

Three men were arrested and one was being sought in Trinidad on Saturday. One of the suspects, Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen native to Guyana and retired JFK employee, said the airport was a symbol that would put "the whole country in mourning."

"It's like you can kill the man twice," said Defreitas, 63, who first hatched his plan more than a decade ago when he worked as a cargo handler for a service company, according to the indictment.

Authorities said they were motivated by a pattern of hatred toward the U.S., Israel and the West. Defreitas was recorded saying he "wanted to do something to get those bastards." He was in custody in Brooklyn and was expected to be arraigned Saturday afternoon.

Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, were in custody in Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur of Guyana, was still being sought in Trinidad.

The suspects believed explosives could ignite the pipeline at JFK and destroy the airport and parts of Queens, where the line runs underground, according to the indictment.

Kadir, a former member of Parliament in Guyana, was arrested in Trinidad for attempting to secure money for "terrorist operations," according to a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kadir left his position in Parliament last year. Muslims make up about 9 percent of the former Dutch and British colony's 770,000 population, mostly from the Sunni sect.

Isha Kadir, the Guyanese suspect's wife, said her husband flew from Guyana to Trinidad on Thursday. She said he was arrested Friday as he was boarding a flight from Trinidad to Venezuela, where he planned to pick up a travel visa to attend an Islamic religious conference in Iran.

"We have no interest in blowing up anything in the U.S.," she said Saturday from the couple's home in Guyana. "We have relatives in the U.S."

Buckeye spokesman Roy Haase said the company, which moves petroleum through pipelines in a number of states, had been informed of the threat from the beginning.

"Given the nature of Buckeye business and the importance of this transportation network, we have an intense and ongoing communications relationship with the Port Authority, the New York City fire and police departments, the federal Department of Homeland Security and the FBI," he said.

The arrests mark the latest in a series of alleged homegrown terrorism plots targeting high-profile American landmarks.

A year ago, seven men were arrested in what officials called the early stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and destroy FBI offices and other buildings.

A month later, authorities broke up a plot to bomb underwater New York City train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan.

And six people were arrested a month ago in an alleged plot to unleash a bloody rampage on Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-06-02 17:56|| 2007-06-02 17:56|| Front Page Top

#7 Are you sure it wasn't the Baptists? Prebyterians? Methodists? Can't be the Religion of Peace.

Posted by JohnQC 2007-06-02 18:09|| 2007-06-02 18:09|| Front Page Top

#8 No doubt in the next few days everyone at the mosques they attended will explain to us how they never saw this coming.

Then we'll get the endless lectures about Islam meaning peace.

Then there'll be the fears of a "backlash".

Then the explanations that we're really to blame because of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Spain, the Balkans.

Then the declarations (in Arabic/off the record) from the Muslims that we deserved it, that the accused are innocent men caught up in "Islamophobia".

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2007-06-02 18:21|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2007-06-02 18:21|| Front Page Top

#9 TW, Michael Ledeen pointed out an item in the article you posted :

and notice the route: Venezuela to Iran. Did you notice that there are now directly flight from Caracas to Teheran via Damascus? The jihadis' haj.

Posted by mrp 2007-06-02 19:18|| 2007-06-02 19:18|| Front Page Top

#10 These vile assholes wanted entire neighborhoods traversed by the jet fuel pipeline to be engulfed in an inferno. We're talking tens of thousands of deaths.

We need to draw up branching diagrams of every single person subsequently related to any given terrorist's entry into America and deport all of them. As Trifkovic points out so lucidly:

7. Treat Islamic activism as grounds for the loss of acquired U.S. citizenship and deportation. The citizenship of any naturalized American who preaches jihad, discrimination against infidels and women, the establishment of the Sharia law etc., should be revoked and that person promptly deported to the country of origin.

10. Treat affiliation with Islam as grounds for denial or revoking of any level of security clearance. Affiliation with Islam is incompatible with the requirements of personal commitment, patriotic loyalty and unquestionable reliability that are essential in the military, law enforcement, intelligence services, and other related branches of government. Presence of practicing Muslims in any of these institutions would present an inherent risk to its integrity and would undermine morale.

The elite class has every intention of continuing to fight the war on terrorism without naming the enemy, without revealing his beliefs, without unmasking his intentions, without offending his accomplices, without expelling his fifth columnists, and without ever daring to win. Their crime can and must be stopped. The founders of the United States overthrew the colonial government for offenses far lighter than those of which the traitor class is guilty.

So long as the enemy goes unnamed, unrevealed, unoffended and unexpelled, this will be our reward. Our politicians are delivering us into the hands of our very worst enemies. May all of them rot in everlasting hell.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-02 19:24|| 2007-06-02 19:24|| Front Page Top

#11 The founders of the United States overthrew the colonial government for offenses far lighter than those of which the traitor class is guilty.

So hop to it rantburg!

Posted by Glart Dingle7076 2007-06-02 19:42|| 2007-06-02 19:42|| Front Page Top

#12 This is why the "religion of pieces" will never be at peace with the west.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-06-02 20:10|| 2007-06-02 20:10|| Front Page Top

#13 Yet another Islamic hate crime against civilisation foiled. Well done, NYPD and FBI!

Posted by Mullah Lodabullah 2007-06-02 20:36|| 2007-06-02 20:36|| Front Page Top

#14 So hop to it rantburg!

Yo, GD7076, got any strategies to suggest or are you just some sort of ~~lameass~~ armchair quarterback? Provide your own measures or go piss up a rope, emkay?

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-02 21:10|| 2007-06-02 21:10|| Front Page Top

#15 and notice the route: Venezuela to Iran. Did you notice that there are now directly flight from Caracas to Teheran via Damascus? The jihadis' haj.

Good catch, mrp. I did not notice that bit, and it's very important. Although we've known for a while that both Al Qaeda and Iran have connections and active cells happily growing in the tri-country area down there (even if I'm not sure exactly which countries those are).

Even more:
link: The plot, which the men code-named Chicken Farm, never got past the planning stages, authorities said.

Mayor Bloomberg was briefed about the plot, and issued this statement:

"The fact that plotters conspired to plan an attack on John F. Kennedy Airport is another reminder that in today's world we face constant threats from people who want to take away our freedoms and destroy our way of life. Working together, NYPD and other local and federal law enforcement agencies have been on top of this unfolding plot for months, and they deserve our thanks and praise. This plot was only in its planning stages and at no point was anyone in imminent danger. New Yorkers should be comforted that the layers of safety provided by counter terrorism officials stopped these individuals before they could do any harm to our way of life."

Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert and president of Accufacts Inc., an energy consulting firm that focuses on pipelines and tank farms, said the force of any explosion would depend on the amount of fuel under pressure, but it would not travel up and down the line. That doesnt mean wackos out there cant do damage and cause a fire, but those explosions and fires are going to be fairly restricted, he said.

Since Defreitas has worked at the airport, security has tightened, and his knowledge of the operation was severely outdated. Defreitas first hatched his plan more than a decade ago when he worked as a cargo handler for a service company, according to the indictment. He was recorded boasting that he had been taught to make bombs in Guyana.

JFK and the areas other airports remained at a heightened state of alert Saturday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.

From USAToday: Abdul Kadir, 55, served in the parliament until last year, when it was disbanded before general elections in the former Dutch and British colony on the north coast of South America. Kadir, who studied civil engineering at the University of Guyana and at the Trinidad campus of the University of the West Indies, also served as mayor in Linden, a small city south of Georgetown, the Guyanese capital. He also worked for years as a civil engineer in the state-owned bauxite company before leaving to set up his own building contractor business.

Kadir's wife, Isha Kadir, told The Associated Press that her husband knew Abdel Nur in Guyana in the 1980s but they were no longer in contact. "We have not seen him for a long time and I would be surprised if my husband has any links with him still," she said in a phone interview from her home in Guyana.

The wife said Kadir, a Shiite Muslim...Muslims, mostly Sunnis, make up about 9% of Guyana's population.

In August 2005, the FBI established a permanent office in Trinidad, which has seen a sharp rise in kidnappings, homicides and drug crime in recent years. In a visit later that year, FBI Director Robert Mueller said he had no reason to believe there were terrorist cells in the twin-island nation but there were "persons of interest" living there.

And ABC, at midday: FBI agents feared but never confirmed the three men accused of plotting to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York were linked to one of the most wanted al Qaeda leaders, Adnan Shukrijumah, known to have operated out of Guyana and Trinidad.

Officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com that they heard repeated references to "Adnan" during the extensive wiretaps conducted on the suspects' telephone conversations, including calls to Guyana and Trinidad.

There is a $5 million reward for information on Shukrijumah, who officials consider extremely dangerous because of the years he spent living in the Miami area and his known ties to al Qaeda. Some of the 9/ll hijackers attended a south Florida mosque run by Shukrijumah's now deceased father.

Shukrijumah left the United States just a few months before September 2001.

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.

The investigation, which appears to have been ongoing for at least two years, was brought to a conclusion when one suspect was about to leave jurisdictions where U.S. authorities had the ability to monitor his activities.

Sources said the plotters had "indirect" links to overseas terror elements, and the plot had links to Guyana, Trinidad and possibly Germany.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-06-02 21:23|| 2007-06-02 21:23|| Front Page Top

#16 Sorry for the long posts, but I thought better this way, having all the information in one place. If y'all would rather I post the articles independently on the front page, please say so. I'd rather be effective that have my own way. :-)

Posted by trailing wife 2007-06-02 21:26|| 2007-06-02 21:26|| Front Page Top

#17 you're doing fine

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-06-02 21:27|| 2007-06-02 21:27|| Front Page Top

#18

Mr. Defreitas said JFK Airport holds symbolic importance for Americans.
"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow ... They love John F. Kennedy like he's the man ... If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice," the complaint quoted him as saying, adding that he also bragged last month that the plot "can destroy the economy of America for some time."

These clowns are ultra-delusional.

But we knew that....

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2007-06-02 21:56|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2007-06-02 21:56|| Front Page Top

#19 So is he the Grassy Knoll guys of 21st century Islam or the Lee Harvey Oswald of the 21st century Islam? Perspiring minds wanna knowe. Heard Kadir's daughter's satement that she was "shocked! shocked! that this accusation came about. He's a simple, peaceful...yadda yadda.." bullshit. His itinerary alone oughta send him to extensive ~~physical~~ interrogation. Asshole

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-06-02 22:14|| 2007-06-02 22:14|| Front Page Top

#20 Dear Frank,

When you mention an "extensive ~~physical~~ interrogation. Asshole", I trust you mean that as a startinig point.

Seeking Clarification,

Zenster

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-02 22:41|| 2007-06-02 22:41|| Front Page Top

#21 Serge (Srdja) Trifkovic is Foreign Affairs Editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, published by The Rockford Institute, and Director of the Institute's Center for International Affairs. He has a BA (Hon) in international relations from the University of Sussex (UK), a BA in political science from the University of Zagreb (Croatia), and a PhD in history from the University of Southampton (UK).

a Libertarian magazine that I used to subscribe to 1990 + or -

Posted by Paleo Division Flyash Liberation Army">Paleo Division Flyash Liberation Army 2007-06-02 22:58|| 2007-06-02 22:58|| Front Page Top

#22 I have no issue with this martyr receiving his raisins as long as we get his contact info we need to move further up the plotting. His daughter says he's innocent of plotting to kill Merkins. I suppose that'll pose a quandry to the raisin/virgin distributor....my heart bleeds..

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-06-02 23:04|| 2007-06-02 23:04|| Front Page Top

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