'Terror Plot' to Attack JFK Sparks Fears of Radical Islam ; WORLD

Jun 04, 02:03 AM

Current Headlines: By Andrew Gumbel

American officials say they are growing increasingly concerned about the domestic threat posed by radical Islamists from the Caribbean following the disruption of an alleged plot to ignite jet fuel tanks and blow up New York's JFK airport.

Federal prosecutors announced over the weekend that they had arrested a Guyanese-born former JFK cargo worker who they had been tracking over the past 18 months after he indicated his rage at his adopted country and talked about ways to strike at the airport.

Authorities in Trinidad arrested two suspected co-conspirators, a former member of the Guyanese parliament and a Trinidadian Muslim radical.

The alleged plot was very far from completion, and authorities said the former cargo worker, 63-year-old Russell Defreitas, was still in the early stages of securing support and manpower via his contacts in the Caribbean.

In fact, US officials made it clear they would have preferred to lay low and continue to monitor Mr Defreitas's activities through an FBI informant he had taken into his confidence. Their hand was forced, however, when Trinidadian authorities arrested one of the suspected co-conspirators, a former Guyanese MP Abdul Kadir, for reasons that remain unclear.

The FBI immediately swooped on Mr Defreitas, who was arrested while eating at a Brooklyn diner on Friday night. It also arranged for the arrest of Kareem Ibrahim in Trinidad. The FBI said it was afraid the men might go to ground if it waited any longer. A fourth suspect, Abdel Nur, of Guyana, remains at large. In common with other plots uncovered by the US authorities since the 11 September 2001 attacks, this one raised as many questions as it answered. The testimony of the FBI informant, who travelled with Mr Defreitas to the Caribbean and recorded several of their conversations, makes it clear that Mr Defreitas wanted to launch an attack that would equal or surpass the destruction of the World Trade Centre.

According to the informant, Mr Defreitas was angry that JFK airport was used to ship military parts to Israel where they were likely to be used to kill Muslims. He also liked the symbolism of hitting JFK.

"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States," he is quoted saying in a formal complaint issued in the wake of his arrest. "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."

Over the weekend, US officials gave off contradictory signals as to the significance of all that. At a news conference announcing Mr Defreitas's arrest, New York's police commissioner Raymond Kelly suggested the Caribbean connection indeed opened up a whole new potential threat to the United States. "This is an area in which we have growing concern, and that I think requires a lot more focus."

In the complaint, at least half a dozen people are mentioned, but not named, as persons of interest being sought for questioning.

At the same time, however, officials speaking to reporters off the record said the arrests did not indicate any immediate danger to the United States. "There are no adjustments to our security posture being made as a result of this plot," one Homeland Security official told the Los Angeles Times. Officials have also ruled out any link to al-Qa'ida.

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