4 Arrested In Alleged Nyc Synagogue Bomb Plot

[Mehtab Singh]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/21/ny.bomb.plot/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Four men arrested for an alleged plot to bomb a New York synagogue and Jewish community center are expected to appear in federal court Thursday, the U.S. attorney's office said. The men also wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, said a criminal complaint filed this week in White Plains, New York.

"Four individuals were arrested for planting bombs in front of two [Jewish facilities] in the area," said Raymond Kelly, New York City police commissioner.

The charges are based on information from an FBI informant, with whom the men met as they plotted to carry out their attacks, authorities said.

"While the weapons provided to the defendants by the cooperating witness were fake, the defendants thought they were absolutely real," acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin said in a statement.

Added Kelly: "The bombs had been made by FBI technicians. They were totally inert; no one was ever at risk or in danger of being injured."

James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen are accused of plotting to detonate the explosives in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York.

Each man had at least one alias, according to the attorney's office. Three of them are U.S. citizens and one is a Haitian, the FBI said.

The U.S. attorney's statement said the informant met with Cromitie in June 2008 in Newburgh, New York.

During that meeting, Cromitie allegedly said his parents live in Afghanistan, that he was angry over the U.S. war there, and that he was interested "doing something to America."

The four men began meeting with the informant at a home equipped with concealed video and audio equipment, plotting to bomb the synagogue and Jewish community center, the statement said.

They also conducted surveillance, including photographs, of an Air National Guard base where they wanted to blow up planes, the statement said. The informant provided the men with a surface-to-air guided missile and C-4 plastic explosives -- none of which could actually be used.

The charges include conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"The targeting of any house of prayer in the United States is a threat to all religious groups and all religious leaders have an obligation to speak out publicly against this planned outrage," said a statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group

The group urged all Jewish institutions to tighten security at their facilities.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a written statement, congratulated the law enforcement agencies that made the arrests.

"While the bombs these terrorists attempted to plant tonight were -- unbeknownst to them -- fake, this latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism," he said.

"This case clearly illustrates that the threat of terrorism in New York is persistent," said Gov. David Paterson. "The threat of terrorism affects all of our communities, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity."

[Kaljug Singh]

Fateh!

There's no point reading American media as they have been castrated by the whining of Muslims in that country who complain about the portrayal of Muslims as terrorists (even when the terrorists are Muslim). See bbc news site for more information.

The 4 men are Muslims. Note how CNN only reports their European names and makes no mention of their Islamic names, and note how they say nothing about the anti-Semitic angle.

K.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8060684.stm

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Four men were arrested late on Wednesday over alleged plots to attack targets in and near New York. The four planned to blow up synagogues and use Stinger missiles to bring down military planes, US prosecutors said.

The men were seized after allegedly planting what they thought were bombs near two synagogues in the Bronx area.

They earlier agreed to buy explosives from FBI agents posing as Islamic militants. New York has been on alert for a new terror attack since 9/11.

The four are charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the US and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, officials said.

The charges carry jail terms of between 25 years and life imprisonment.

The four, all Muslims, are to appear in a federal court later.

They were named as James Cromitie (also known as Abdul Rahman), David Williams (aka Daoud and DL), Onta Williams (aka Hamza) and Laguerre Payen (aka Amin and Almondo).

A senior FBI official in New York said three were US citizens and one was from Haiti.

BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says the case appears to be a classic sting operation against suspected home-grown militants rather than a plot with any links to known international terrorism.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the alleged plot showed "homeland security threats against New York City [were] sadly all too real".

'Sought weapons'

The arrests were the result of a year-long investigation, officials said.

The defendants wanted to engage in terrorist attacks," said Lev Dassin, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

"They selected targets and sought the weapons necessary to carry out their plans."

According to prosecutors, the men planned to detonate cars packed with C-4 plastic explosives outside the Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx district of the city.

They also intended to target military planes at the New York Air National Guard base at Stewart Airport, 60 miles (85 km) north of New York City. <A class=bodl href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8060684.stm#map" __eventIdglow885782234="97">See a map of alleged targets

In their efforts to obtain weapons for the attack, the men dealt with an informant from the FBI, who provided the group "with an inactive missile and inert explosives."

"They had bags that were set up that they believed to be bombs, carrying about 30 pounds of explosives which they believed to be explosives," FBI official Joseph Demarest told reporters.

'Afghan war anger'

According to prosecutors, Mr Cromitie - whose parents are from Afghanistan - told an FBI informant in June 2008 that he was angry over the US-led war in Afghanistan.

He "expressed an interest in 'doing something to America"'.

From October 2008, the informant began meeting him regularly along with the four others at a house in which the FBI had concealed video and audio equipment.

The group allegedly "expressed desire" to attack targets in New York and Mr Cromitie "asked the informant to supply surface-to-air guided missiles and explosives", prosecutors say.

In April 2009, the group agreed on the synagogues they intended to attack and proceeded to conduct surveillance, including taking photographs of the warplanes at the military base, prosecutors say.

Mr Cromitie allegedly pointed out Jews in the street, saying "if he had a gun, he would shoot each one in the head", according to the district attorney's statement.

According to the statement, he told the informant that attacking the Jewish community centre would be a "piece of cake".

He also said he would be interested in joining Jaish-e-Mohammed - a Pakistan-based group considered a terrorist organisation by Washington - "to do jihad".