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1 posted on 06/03/2007 4:09:35 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: KylaStarr; Cindy; StillProud2BeFree; nw_arizona_granny; Velveeta; Dolphy; appalachian_dweller; ...

ping


2 posted on 06/03/2007 4:11:51 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Shermy

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161156372

...Shia link possible

Police intelligence in Trinidad and Tobago and the US say the group that planned to blow up fuel depots at JFK airport might be linked to radical Shia groups based in southern Iraq or Iran.

The two men arrested in Trinidad on Friday, Kareem Ibrahim and Abdul Kadir, are both imams of Shia mosques here and in Guyana respectively.

A third man, a Guyanese known as Abdul Nur, also a Shia, is on the run and believed to be hiding here.

The United States has issued arrest warrants for all three.

Sources from the Police Special Branch say they are in the “process of trying to determine whether Ibrahim has links to radical Shia groups in the Middle East based on information passed on to us the FBI.”

FBI agents are in Trinidad investigating this and other aspects of the case involving Ibrahim and Kadir.

Local police say they were informed by their US counterparts that unlike previous terror plans that involved Sunni Muslims with Al Qaeda links it is the first time that a plot of this kind involving Shias has been uncovered.

Shia or Shiite Muslims have their origins in Iran and are also based in southern Iraq.

Radical Shias headed by Muqtada Al Sada have been blamed for attacks on foreign troops in Southern Iraq while Iran has been a long-time foe of the United States.

The Shia population in Trinidad and Guyana is relatively small.

The Shia community is very “close knit and well organised” one leading Muslim told the Sunday Express.

“Shias all over the world are linked and the communities live close together and are well known for their extremism especially self-flagellation.”

The plot to blow up the fuel depots was uncovered by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Police Commissioner Trevor Paul confirmed that FBI agents were in T&T conducting their own investigations into the matter.

Paul held a press conference at old Police Headquarters, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain to deal with the arrests.

The US Justice Department also contacted the Central Authority Department of the Ministry of Attorney General asking that the men be extradited.

Ibrahim and Kadir are expected to appear before a Port of Spain magistrate on Monday on an extradition hearing.

Kadir was arrested around 11 a.m. on Friday at the Piarco airport trying to board a flight on Venezuela, while Ibrahim was held around the same time at his mosque in Tacarigua.

Kadir was heading to Iran via Venezuela for an Islamic conference.

Both men were up to yesterday being questioned by Special Branch and FBI officers.

Their fingerprints and photographs were also taken by local Interpol.

The FBI also visited the Jamaat al Muslimeen yesterday as Ibrahim is said to have visited the mosque on “occasion”.

Ibrahim is not a member of the Jamaat nor affiliated to the mosque.

Paul confirmed that there was no information linking the Jamaat to the plot.

The Jamaat is a Sunni-based organisation.

Ibrahim is the imam of one of the two leading Shia mosques in Trinidad.

He is 56 years old and his mosque was originally based in Port of Spain but was relocated to Canefarm in Tacarigua some years ago.

Ibrahim is well known and sells Islamic books at Woodford Square and runs a parlour from his home located near the Mosque.

He is a father of five and is a leading Muslim of African descent in T&T.

Kadir, 57, a Shia imam in Guyana, served as an opposition MP in that country between 2001 to 2006.

He is a member of Guyana’s main opposition party the PNC/Reform.

The father of nine represented the Upper Demarara, Upper Berbice area and became a Shia in 1974.

Kadir is a qualified civil engineer who earned his degree at UWI, St Augustine and he also lived in Venezuela for a short time.

Local intelligence officers have confirmed that the investigations into the matter have not ended as both local and US authorities are trying to determine whether more people here are involved and which international organisation the group is affiliated with.


3 posted on 06/03/2007 4:13:38 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: Shermy

They’re everywhere.


4 posted on 06/03/2007 5:11:40 PM PDT by blam
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To: Shermy

TERROR TARGET: JFK

Fourth Alleged JFK Plotter Still at Large

1010 WINS -- Federal authorities said a plot by a suspected Muslim terrorist cell to blow up 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 America's economy, particularly the airline industry, they said it probably would not have led to significant loss of life as intended.

Authorities announced 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,'' U.S. 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 Sept. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. State Department counterterrorism expert Fred Burton said, but added it was difficult to determine without knowing all the facts of the case.

The pipeline, owned by Buckeye Pipeline Co., takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport.

Buckeye spokesman Roy Haase said the company had been informed of the threat from the beginning.

Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert and president of Accufacts Inc., an energy consulting firm that focuses on pipelines and tank farms, said the force of explosion would depend on the amount of fuel under pressure, but it would not travel up and down the line.

``That doesn't mean wackos out there can't do damage and cause a fire, but those explosions and fires are going to be fairly restricted,'' he said.

John W. Magaw, a former head of the Transportation Security Administration, told The Washington Post that such an attack ``may not cause a lot of deaths, but it would be spectacular and seen around world.''

He said it ``could cripple the airlines.''

Since Defreitas retired from his job at the airport in 1995, security has significantly tightened and his knowledge of the operation was severely outdated.

He was arraigned Saturday in federal court in Brooklyn, where he was held pending a bail hearing Wednesday. His court-appointed lawyer told the judge that officials were not revealing the full story, according to published reports.

Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, were in custody in Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur of Guyana, was still being sought in Trinidad.

Trevor Paul, the top police official in Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island nation off Venezuela's coast, said Kadir and Ibrahim would likely be extradited to the U.S. after court hearings in Trinidad.

Authorities said Kadir and Nur were longtime associates of a Trinidadian radical Muslim group, Jamaat al Muslimeen, which launched an unsuccessful rebellion in 1990 that left 24 dead.

Phone calls to Yasin Abu Bakr, the radical group's leader, went unanswered Saturday.

Kadir, a member of Parliament in Guyana until last year, was arrested in Trinidad for attempting to secure money for ``terrorist operations,'' according to a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Isha Kadir, the Guyanese suspect's wife, said her husband flew from Guyana to Trinidad on Thursday. She said he was arrested Friday as he was boarding a flight from Trinidad to Venezuela, where he planned to pick up a travel visa to attend an Islamic religious conference in Iran.

``We have no interest in blowing up anything in the U.S.,'' she said Saturday from the couple's home in Guyana. ``We have relatives in the U.S.''

The U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force recorded and surveilled the men, learning that Defreitas drove around and videotaped JFK four times in January.

When Defreitas returned from Guyana in February, U.S. customs officials searched his belongings and found Kadir's name and telephone number in Defreitas' address book. At that time, Defreitas told an informant he was suspicious the U.S. government was aware of the plot.

Authorities decided to pounce after Defreitas said on May 27 that he was happy to see that the plan, code named ``chicken farm,'' was moving forward, according to the criminal complaint.

Defreitas was nabbed Friday night walking out of a Brooklyn diner.
Field of storage tanks on the grounds of JFK Airport.

5 posted on 06/03/2007 5:13:00 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Shermy
They're everywhere.

"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. "

Is there a racial element to this group?

6 posted on 06/03/2007 5:13:38 PM PDT by blam
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To: All

(Note: Contact phone number deleted by me.)

NOTE The following text is a quote:

http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/nyfo080210.htm

For Immediate Release
August 2, 2010
United States Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of New York

American and Guyanese Citizens Convicted of Conspiracy to Launch Attack at JFK Airport
Defendants Plotted to Explode Fuel Tanks at Airport

BROOKLYN, NY—Following a six-week jury trial, Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir were 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 defendants believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives. Both defendants face sentences of up to life imprisonment. Sentencing has been scheduled for December 15, 2010.

The convictions were 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.

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. Beginning in 2006, Defreitas recruited others to join the plot, including Abdul Kadir and Abdel Nur, 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 to his co-conspirators. 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.1

According to the trial evidence, the plot members also attempted to enlist support for the plot 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. In February 2007, Defreitas recruited Kadir to join the plot because Kadir, a former member of the Guyanese parliament, was an engineer and had connections with militant groups in Iran and Venezuela. During cross-examination at trial, Kadir admitted that he regularly passed information to Iranian authorities and believed himself bound to follow fatwas from Iranian religious leaders

Defreitas was arrested in New York on June 2, 2007. Kadir was arrested in Trinidad aboard a plane headed to Venezuela, en route to Iran. Ibrahim and Nur were also arrested in Trinidad. All three were subsequently extradited to the United States.

The specific charges Defreitas and Kadir were 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). Defreitas was also convicted of Surveillance of a Mass Transportation Facility, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1992(a)(8).

“The defendants intended to send a message by killing Americans and destroying the New York City economy,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Today, the only message is that those who engage in potentially deadly plots against the United States will be stopped and punished.” United States Attorney 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 Defendants:

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

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

ABDEL NUR, also known as “Compton Eversley”
Age: 60

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


13 posted on 08/02/2010 4:47:08 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

Back to the present thread...

Note: Photo and drawing included.

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/stories/08/02/breaking-news-kadir-defreitas-found-guilty-in-jfk-plot-case/

“Breaking News: Kadir, DeFreitas found guilty in JFK plot case”
By editor | August 2, 2010 in Local News

SNIPPET: “NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Two Islamist militants were found guilty today by a federal jury of plotting to bomb New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Russell Defreitas, 67, a U.S. citizen born in Guyana, and Abdul Kadir, 58, of Guyana, conspired to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at the airport in the New York City borough of Queens.”

SNIPPET: “Two other men were arrested in the plot. Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad and Tobago was deemed too ill to be tried, but may face trial later.
Guyanese Abdel Nur, 60, pleaded guilty in June to a separate charge of material support to terrorism and faces up to 15 years in prison.”


16 posted on 08/02/2010 5:00:32 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Oorang; Velveeta; Shermy; piasa; backhoe

ping

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1844242/posts


17 posted on 08/02/2010 5:19:08 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

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.

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 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.


25 posted on 02/19/2011 11:31:47 PM PST by Cindy
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To: All

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


28 posted on 05/26/2011 5:54:57 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

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.”

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 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.”

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, 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


30 posted on 01/14/2012 3:19:56 AM PST by Cindy
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To: Shermy

Shiite bump


33 posted on 04/13/2015 3:57:50 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: Shermy

Religious center in Iran ...Kum = Qom

Qom/Kum is also a nuclear research & development site


34 posted on 04/13/2015 4:07:13 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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