Abdul Kadir Arrested in JFK Plot (Guyana news source)

Four men including former PNCR Member of Parliament Abdul Kadir were yesterday charged by United States law enforcement officials with allegedly conspiring to blow up the John F Kennedy International airport as well as tanks storing aviation fuel and underground fuel pipelines.

Those charged with Kadir are former JFK worker Russell Defreitas, a Guyanese-born US citizen; Kareem Ibrahim, an imam from Trinidad; and Guyanese Abdel Nur. Kadir and Ibrahim were arrested in Trinidad, while Defreitas was held in New York. Up to press time, however, Nur had not been apprehended and was thought to be still at large in Trinidad.

According to a release from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday, Kadir had departed Guyana for Trinidad and Tobago on a Liat flight on Thursday evening.

The statement also said that the GPF had co-operated with the United States authorities at the embassy in Georgetown in relation to Kadir's detention as part of efforts to deal with the terrorist activity.

According to the Trinidad Express, Kareem Ibrahim, 56, an imam of a Shi'a mosque in Canefarm, Tacarigua, Trinidad was arrested at his home on Friday. The paper said he sold Islamic literature at Woolford Square, and ran a parlour from his house. The daily said too that Police Special Branch and US authorities were investigating whether the group had any connection to Shi'a groups in southern Iraq and Iran.

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." This news had reached the family late on Friday night, Sauda said, and had come as a shock since everyone in the family knew that Adbul Kadir was a "principled and caring person."

The family have since contacted Kadir's lawyer in Trinidad who told them that he was being held for questioning.

"We firmly believe it is an attack on my father because he is a Muslim. We don't even have any ties with al Qaeda. We don't share the same belief as them; we are Shia's; we don't believe in taking innocent lives," Kadir's daughter said.

According to Sauda two weeks ago the Kadir family hosted two Muslim brothers from the USA. She said that they had come to Linden and wanted a place to stay, and as was their belief whenever a brother needed a place to stay, they provided one. She said that one of the brothers went to their Friday night prayer. They were in Guyana, she said, to have meetings with fellow Muslims across the country, which they did.

She said her father had had no contact with the brothers after they had left for Trinidad on their way to the USA.

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.

Before going to UWI, Kadir spent a year in Venezuela between 1977 and 1978, where he hoped to continue his studies. When those plans fell through, he returned to Guyana and taught for a brief period at the Charlestown Government Secondary School.

In Trinidad during his vacation Kadir worked with Dr Emru Millet, a consulting engineer, and on his return from UWI, Kadir joined the Guyana Bauxite Company, later Linmine, and remained there until the retrenchment exercise in July 2003. Kadir, who converted to Islam in 1974, told this newspaper in 2004 that while in Trinidad he had been a member of the Islamic Party of the Caribbean. When he returned home, his main focus was to foster the teaching of Islam in the hope of bringing about social reform through that means.

Kadir was a member of the PNC's Young Socialist Movement during the time of Eustace Hall and Jeffrey Thomas, and was also a member of Ascria. In his 2004 interview he said that Eusi Kwayana of Ascria had influenced him in the direction of developing a certain scholarship to understand the socialist principles to go beyond situations as they appeared on the surface.

He told this newspaper at that time too that he had also been influenced by the writings of Walter Rodney, Kwame Nkrumah, Eldridge Cleaver and Malcolm X.

Kadir was elected as mayor of Linden in 1994 and held this office for two years before resigning. He became a parliamentary representative for Region Ten (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice) for one term following the 2001 election, but in his 2004 interview said that he had found the experience to be well below what he had expected.

Kadir is married and the father of nine children, the eldest of whom is 37 and the youngest 20. Two of his children, Sheikh Salim Bin Abdul Kadir and Sauda Bint Abdul Kadir, are Moslem scholars, graduates of the religious centre of Kum, Iran.

Kadir was one of the members of the local Shi'a Muslim community who led calls for the police force to vigorously pursue the case involving the killing of the Director of the International Islamic College for Advanced Studies (IICAS), Iranian cleric Mohammed Hassan Ebrahimi. He was abducted in April 2004 by two armed men and his body was found weeks later in a shallow grave four hundred yards off the St Cuthbert's trail and about three-and-a-half miles from the Linden-Soesdyke Highway

Ibrahim, 35, was grabbed outside the Islamic institution at 42B United Nations Place in what seemed a well-planned operation. Administrator of the college, Raymond Halley, 51, who was with Ibrahim at the time of his abduction, was shot in his heel as he attempted to flee.

Kadir, who was a close friend of Ibrahim from his years studying Islamic Theology in Iran, took over the functions of the senior Shi'a cleric. Classes at the college were curtailed, however, as a result of the man's death.

No ransom was demanded from the man's abductors and Kadir at a press conference in response to a question said that he had never heard of Ibrahim receiving any death threats in the two years or so he had been living in Guyana. He had told the media too that he [Kadir] had felt personally responsible for Ibrahim's safety since it was on account of their close friendship that the cleric had come to this country. At that time Kadir had expressed himeself puzzled by the silence of other local Islamic groups on the issue.

A number of Iranian detectives had even come to Guyana to help the local authorities solve the crime, but no one was ever charged.

The Government of Guyana expressed shock at the news of the arrest of two Guyanese suspected of being part of a terrorist network, according to a release from the Guyana Information Agency yesterday.

Earlier Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee had said that contrary to reports from a section of the international media, Kadir was not and never had been a government official.. "He served as a parliamentarian for the opposition, People's National Congress Reform, PNCR in the eighth parliament of Guyana," the minister said in a two-minute presentation on the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN).

He said too that this latest development brought into sharper focus the need for greater co-operation among countries in the fight against international terrorism, and he reiterated what he called the government's "principled position that the fight against international terrorism is for the benefit of all mankind."

Opposition Leader Robert Corbin told Stabroek News that he was in Essequibo visiting the residents of Dartmouth when he got the news. He described Kadir as an outstanding citizen of Linden and Member of Parliament who had led a distinguished career as a civil engineering professional.

Corbin said he was aware the former Mem-ber of Parliament was a devout Muslim. "We knew that Mr Kadir always had ties with international Muslim organisations who helped him to carry out activities... and we at the PNCR did not know him ever being involved in any illegal or criminal activities, and we have nothing on record on misbehaviour on the part of Kadir," Corbin said

December 15, 2010

NOTE The following text is a quote:

http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/nyfo121510a.htm

Abdul Kadir Sentenced to Life in Prison for Conspiring to Commit Terrorist Attack at JFK Airport
Kadir and Coconspirators Plotted to Explode Fuel Tanks at Airport

BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced Abdul Kadir to life in prison for conspiring to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Kadir and his coconspirators believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York.

A federal jury convicted Kadir and coconspirator Russell Defreitas in July 2010, after a nine-week trial. A third defendant, Abdel Nur, pleaded guilty before trial to supporting the plot and faces a sentence of up to 15 years. A fourth member of the plot, Kareem Ibrahim, faces trial on the same charges as Defreitas and Kadir.*

The evidence at trial established that Defreitas, a naturalized United States citizen from Guyana, originated the idea to attack JFK Airport and its fuel tanks and pipelines by drawing on his prior experience working at the airport as a cargo handler. During multiple trips to Guyana and Trinidad in 2006 and 2007, Defreitas recruited Kadir and others to join the plot. Between trips, Defreitas engaged in video surveillance of JFK Airport and transported the footage back to Guyana to show Kadir and their coconspirators. Kadir, a trained engineer with connections to militant groups in Iran and Venezuela, provided the conspirators with links to individuals with terrorist experience, advice on explosive materials, and a bank account through which to finance the terrorist attack. The members of the plot attempted to enlist support from prominent international terrorist groups and leaders, as well as the government of Iran, including Abu Bakr, leader of the Trinidadian militant group Jamaat Al Muslimeen, and Adnan El Shukrijumah, an al Qaeda leader.

At trial, Kadir, a former member of the Guyanese parliament, admitted that he regularly passed information to Iranian authorities about sensitive topics, including the Guyanese military, and believed himself bound to follow fatwas from Iranian religious leaders. On June 2, 2007, Kadir was arrested in Trinidad aboard a plane headed to Venezuela, en route to Iran. He was subsequently extradited to the United States.

The specific charges Kadir was convicted of were: conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332f; conspiracy to destroy a building by fire or explosive, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(n); conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 32; conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 37; and conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1992(a)(10).

“The sentence imposed on Abdul Kadir sends a powerful and clear message,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “We will bring to justice those who plot to attack the United States of America.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for its role in investigating and prosecuting the case, as well as to the Guyanese and Trinidadian law enforcement authorities who assisted with the investigation and apprehension of the defendants.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marshall L. Miller, Jason A. Jones, Berit W. Berger, and Zainab Ahmad.

The Defendant:
ABDUL KADIR, also known as “Aubrey Michael Seaforth”
Age: 58

* The charges against Ibrahim are only allegations, and Ibrahim is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

February 17, 2011

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/russell-defreitas-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-conspiring-to-commit-terrorist-attack-at-jfk-airport

BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced convicted defendant Russell Defreitas to life in prison for conspiring to commit a terrorist attack at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Defreitas and his coconspirators believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives.

A federal jury convicted Russell Defreitas and coconspirator Abdul Kadir in July 2010 after a nine-week trial. The evidence at trial established that Russell Defreitas, a naturalized United States citizen from Guyana, originated the idea to attack JFK Airport and its fuel tanks and pipelines by drawing on his prior experience working at the airport as a cargo handler. In 2006 and 2007, Defreitas recruited Kadir and others to join the plot during multiple trips to Guyana and Trinidad. Between trips, Defreitas engaged in video surveillance of JFK Airport and transported the footage back to Guyana to show Kadir and their co-conspirators. Kadir, a trained engineer with connections to militant groups in Iran and Venezuela, provided the conspirators with links to individuals with terrorist experience, advice on explosive materials, and a bank account through which to finance the terrorist attack.

On December 15, 2010, Judge Irizarry sentenced Abdul Kadir to life in prison. A third defendant, Abdel Nur, pleaded guilty before trial to supporting the plot and was sentenced to 15 years on January 13, 2011. A fourth member of the plot, Kareem Ibrahim, faces trial on the same charges as Defreitas and Kadir.1

According to the trial evidence, Defreitas and his fellow plot members attempted to enlist support from prominent international terrorist groups and leaders, including Abu Bakr, leader of the Trinidadian militant group Jamaat Al Muslimeen, and Adnan El Shukrijumah, an al Qaeda leader, as well as the Iranian revolutionary leadership. During cross-examination at trial, Kadir, a former member of the Guyanese parliament, admitted that he regularly passed information to Iranian authorities about sensitive topics, including the Guyanese military, and believed himself bound to follow fatwas from Iranian religious leaders.

On June 1, 2007, Defreitas was arrested in New York, and Kadir was arrested in Trinidad aboard a plane headed to Venezuela, en route to Iran. He was subsequently extradited to the United States.

The specific charges Defreitas was convicted of were: conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332f; conspiracy to destroy a building by fire or explosive, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(n); conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 32; conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 37; and conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1992(a)(10).

“Russell Defreitas plotted to commit a terrorist attack that he hoped would rival 9/11,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “But law enforcement detected and thwarted the plot, saving lives. Now, our courts have dispensed justice by handing out the life sentence that Defreitas richly deserves.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York for its role in investigating and prosecuting the case, as well as to the Guyanese and Trinidadian law enforcement authorities who assisted with the investigation and apprehension of the defendants.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marshall L. Miller, Jason A. Jones, Berit W. Berger, and Zainab Ahmad.

The Defendant:

RUSSELL DEFREITAS, also known as “Mohammed”
Age: 67

1 The charges against Ibrahim are only allegations, and Ibrahim is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/imam-from-trinidad-convicted-of-conspiracy-to-launch-terrorist-attack-at-jfk-airport

Imam from Trinidad Convicted of Conspiracy to Launch Terrorist Attack at JFK Airport
Defendant Plotted to Explode Fuel Tanks and Pipeline at Airport

U.S. Attorney’s Office
May 26, 2011

BROOKLYN, NY—Following a four-week jury trial, Kareem Ibrahim was convicted today in the Eastern District of New York of conspiring to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. The defendant believed the attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the United States economy, as well as the loss of innocent lives. The defendant faces a sentence of up to life in prison. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 21, 2011.

The convictions were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York.

The evidence at trial established that Kareem Ibrahim, an Imam and leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Trinidad and Tobago, provided religious instruction and operational support to a group plotting to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport. The plot originated with Russell Defreitas, a naturalized United States citizen from Guyana, who drew on his prior experience working at JFK Airport as a cargo handler to plan the attack on its fuel tanks and fuel pipeline. Beginning in 2006, Defreitas recruited others to join the plot, including the defendant Kareem Ibrahim, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir, a former member of parliament in Guyana.

In May 2007, Defreitas presented defendant Kareem Ibrahim with video surveillance and satellite imagery of the targets for terrorist attack because Ibrahim had connections with militant leaders in Iran. During cross-examination at trial, Ibrahim admitted that he advised the plotters to present the plot to revolutionary leaders in Iran and to use operatives ready to engage in suicide attacks at the airport. On one of the recorded conversations entered into evidence, Ibrahim told Defreitas that the attackers must be ready to “fight it out, kill who you could kill and go back to Allah.”

According to the trial evidence, the conspirators also attempted to enlist support for the plot from prominent international terrorist groups and leaders, including Adnan El Shukrijumah, an al Qaeda leader and explosives expert, and Yasin Abu Bakr, leader of the Trinidadian militant group Jamaat Al Muslimeen. Ultimately, the plotters followed Ibrahim’s direction and sent Abdul Kadir to meet with his contacts in the Iranian revolutionary leadership, including Mohsen Rabbani, the former cultural attache indicted for his leading role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Kareem Ibrahim, Nur and Kadir were arrested in Trinidad in June 2007, with Kadir aboard a plane headed to Venezuela, en route to Iran. All three were subsequently extradited to the United States. Defreitas was arrested in New York. After a trial in 2010, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Nur pleaded guilty before trial to supporting the plot and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The specific charges Ibrahim was convicted of are: conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332f; conspiracy to destroy a building by fire or explosive, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(n); conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 32; conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 37; and conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1992(a)(10).

“In pursuit of a radical terrorist agenda, bent on the destruction of John F. Kennedy Airport and the murder of innocent civilians, Imam Kareem Ibrahim abandoned the true tenets of his religion,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “We will continue to seek out and bring to justice all those who plot to attack the United States and its people.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York for its role in investigating and assisting in the prosecution of the case, as well as to the Guyanese and Trinidadian law enforcement authorities who assisted with the investigation and apprehension of the defendants.

“Ibrahim and his co-conspirators had elaborate plans to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport, not only to cause carnage, but also to damage the economy,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Fedarcyk. “Today’s guilty verdict is not only a victory for the American justice system, it is also a rejection of the extremist ideology he supported.”

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marshall L. Miller, Berit W. Berger and Zainab Ahmad.

The Defendant:
KAREEM IBRAHIM, also known as “Amir Kareem” and “Winston Kingston”
Age: 65

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2913/terror-suspect-convicted-in-jfk-plot

For The Record - The IPT Blog

“Terror Suspect Convicted in JFK Plot”
by IPT News • May 26, 2011 at 6:11 pm

SNIPPET: Prior to Ibrahim’s recommendation to contact Iran, the plot members sought the assistance of Abu Bakr, leader of the group Jamaat Al Muslimeen ( JAM), Assistant U.S. Attorney Zainab Ahmad told jurors. JAM was responsible for a 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad that resulted in two dozen deaths. The JFK plotters hoped to either receive direct support from JAM or to use JAM to get in contact with Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, an al-Qaida operative who is wanted in connection with terrorist attacks against the United States.

Ibrahim advised the group not to work with JAM and instead told Defreitas that he was sending “an associate” to travel overseas to garner support for the plan, according to the June 2007 criminal complaint under which he was arrested. The associate, Kadir, was arrested on the plane en route to Iran, although Defense Attorney Michael Hueston argued that there was no evidence to support the claim that Ibrahim recruited Kadir to travel to Iran to get aid for his mission.”

NOTE The following text is a quote:www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2012/kareem-ibrahim-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-conspiring-to-commit-terrorist-attack-at-jfk-airport

Kareem Ibrahim Sentenced to Life in Prison for Conspiring to Commit Terrorist Attack at JFK Airport

Ibrahim and Co-Conspirators Plotted to Explode Fuel Tanks and Pipeline at Airport

U.S. Attorney’s Office
January 13, 2012

Eastern District of New York

BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today, in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced convicted defendant Kareem Ibrahim to life in prison for conspiring to commit a terrorist attack at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Ibrahim and his coconspirators believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives. At the Ibrahim sentencing, Judge Irizarry stated: “This case shows the government at its best in terms of protecting the security of this country.”

A federal jury convicted Kareem Ibrahim of multiple terrorism offenses in May 2011 after a four-week trial. The evidence at trial established that Ibrahim, an Imam and leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Trinidad & Tobago, provided religious instruction and operational support to a group plotting to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport. The plot originated with Russell Defreitas, a naturalized United States citizen from Guyana, who drew on his prior experience working at JFK Airport as a cargo handler to plan the attack on its fuel tanks and fuel pipeline. Beginning in 2006, Defreitas recruited others to join the plot, including the defendant Kareem Ibrahim, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir, a former member of parliament in Guyana. In May 2007, Defreitas presented Ibrahim with video surveillance and satellite imagery of the targets for terrorist attack because Ibrahim had connections with militant leaders in Iran.

During cross-examination at trial, Ibrahim admitted that he advised the plotters to present the plot to revolutionary leaders in Iran and to use operatives ready to engage in suicide attacks at the airport. On one of the recorded conversations entered into evidence, Ibrahim told Defreitas that the attackers must be ready to “fight it out, kill who you could kill and go back to Allah.”

Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir, and Abdel Nur were arrested in Trinidad in June 2007, with Kadir aboard a plane headed to Venezuela, en route to Iran. All three were subsequently extradited to the United States. Defreitas was arrested in New York. After a nine-week trial in 2010, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir were convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to life in prison. Nur pleaded guilty before trial to supporting the plot and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The specific charges Ibrahim was convicted of were: conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332f; conspiracy to destroy a building by fire or explosive, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(n); conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 32; conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 37; and conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1992(a)(10).

“Kareem Ibrahim abandoned the true tenets of his religion and plotted to commit a terrorist attack that he hoped would rival 9/11,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “But law enforcement detected and thwarted the plot, saving lives. Now, our courts have dispensed justice by handing out the life sentence that Ibrahim deserves.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York for its role in investigating and prosecuting the case, as well as to the Guyanese and Trinidadian law enforcement authorities who assisted with the investigation and apprehension of the defendants.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marshall L. Miller, Berit W. Berger, and Zainab Ahmad.

The Defendant:
KAREEM IBRAHIM, also known as “Amir Kareem” and “Winston Kingston”
Age: 65

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