Plan to blow up New York airport exposed

NEW YORK – US federal authorities said a plot by a suspected Muslim terrorist cell to blow up New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport, its fuel tanks and a jet fuel artery could have caused ‘unthinkable’ devastation.

But while pipeline and security experts agreed that such an attack would have crippled the US economy, particularly the airline industry, they said it probably would not have led to significant loss of life as intended. Authorities announced on Saturday they had broken up the suspected terrorist cell, arresting three men, one of them a former member of Guyana’s parliament.A fourth man was being sought in Trinidad as part of the plot that authorities said they had been tracking for more than a year and was foiled in the planning stages.”The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable,” US Attorney Roslynn R Mauskopf said at a news conference, calling it ‘one of the most chilling plots imaginable’.In an indictment charging the four men, one of them is quoted as saying the foiled plot would ’cause greater destruction than in the September 11 attacks’, destroying the airport, killing several thousand people and destroying parts of New York’s borough of Queens, where the pipeline runs underground.One of the suspects, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen native to Guyana and former JFK air cargo employee, said the airport named for the slain president was targeted because it is 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 the men were motivated by hatred toward the United States and Israel.Defreitas was recorded saying he “wanted to do something to get those bastards” and he boasted that he had been taught to make bombs in Guyana.Despite their efforts, the men never obtained any explosives, authorities said.”Pulling off any bombing of this magnitude would not be easy in today’s environment,” former US State Department counterterrorism expert Fred Burton said, but added it was difficult to determine without knowing all the facts of the case.Nampa-APAuthorities announced on Saturday they had broken up the suspected terrorist cell, arresting three men, one of them a former member of Guyana’s parliament.A fourth man was being sought in Trinidad as part of the plot that authorities said they had been tracking for more than a year and was foiled in the planning stages.”The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable,” US Attorney Roslynn R Mauskopf said at a news conference, calling it ‘one of the most chilling plots imaginable’.In an indictment charging the four men, one of them is quoted as saying the foiled plot would ’cause greater destruction than in the September 11 attacks’, destroying the airport, killing several thousand people and destroying parts of New York’s borough of Queens, where the pipeline runs underground.One of the suspects, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen native to Guyana and former JFK air cargo employee, said the airport named for the slain president was targeted because it is 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 the men were motivated by hatred toward the United States and Israel.Defreitas was recorded saying he “wanted to do something to get those bastards” and he boasted that he had been taught to make bombs in Guyana.Despite their efforts, the men never obtained any explosives, authorities said.”Pulling off any bombing of this magnitude would not be easy in today’s environment,” former US State Department counterterrorism expert Fred Burton said, but added it was difficult to determine without knowing all the facts of the case.Nampa-AP