'Dirty bomb' plot included targets in N.Y.C., feds charge

NY Daily News ^

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Hotels and apartment buildings on hit list

WASHINGTON — Jose Padilla, a detainee held in U.S. custody, was training to blow up hotels and apartment buildings in the United States in addition to a possible attack with a “dirty bomb” nuclear device, according to government documents.

The documents, released Tuesday by the Justice Department, said that Padilla and an al-Qaida accomplice were to enter the United States through Mexico or Puerto Rico.

“Padilla and the accomplice were to locate as many as three high-rise apartment buildings which had natural gas supplied to the floors,” the government summary of interrogations revealed.

“They would rent two apartments in each building, seal all the openings, turn on the gas, and set timers to detonate the buildings simultaneously at a later time,” the papers alleged.

The documents said al-Qaida officials were skeptical of Padilla’s ability to set off a dirty bomb but were very interested in the apartment operation.

Top al-Qaida officials “wanted Padilla to hit targets in New York City, although Florida and Washington, D.C. were discussed as well,” the summary said.

Padilla was to conduct an Internet search on buildings that had natural gas heating, open a bank account and obtain documents needed to rent an apartment.

The plot called for blowing up 20 buildings simultaneously, but Padilla said he could not rent multiple apartments under one identity without drawing attention.

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From the press conference ...
"I told you that Padilla recognized this other al Qaeda operative who was to be his partner, recognized him immediately. You will, too. Because that other operative was Adnan Shukrijumah, also known as Jafar or Jafar the pilot, a man that the attorney general and the FBI director told this country about last week; one of the seven we want so badly to find."

It seems to me that the 'dirty bomb' plot is still in play.

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