Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > 3 Muslims in UK charged with plot to "use weapons of mass destruction in the United States"
3 Muslims in UK charged with plot to "use weapons of mass destruction in the United States"
Stock Exchange,Citicorp, Prudential Building and targetted - US seeks extradition after UK trial
April 12, 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=628887
Three Britons face US charges of plotting terror attacks
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
13 April 2005
The US government has indicted three British men allegedly linked to al-Qa'ida for what officials here say was a serious and well-advanced plot to attack financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington DC.
In a four-count indictment made public yesterday, Dhiran Barot, Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi are accused of scouting the New York Stock Exchange and Citicorp Building in New York, the Prudential Building in Newark, New Jersey, and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington to draw up plans to stage attacks.
The three, all from Willesden in north west London, were arrested in Britain in August 2004 on similar charges and may face extradition to the US.
"These men were conducting sophisticated surveillance with very great patience. This conspiracy was alive and kicking until late 2004," said James Comey, the deputy attorney general, unveiling the indictments here.
The US authorities plan to seek extradition once the British prosecutions are complete, a Justice Department spokeswoman said yesterday.
In London, the Crown Prosecution Service said trials were to begin next January, and these, as well as any sentences that might follow, must be completed before any extradition or interrogation by American agents.
In the US they face maximum sentences of life imprisonment, but it could be years - if ever - before they are physically transferred here.
US officials say that Mr Barot, 32, is a senior al-Qa'ida operative who used several aliases, and formerly reported to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the organisers of the 2001 terror attacks, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2003.
Prosecutors say the men conducted surveillance on the buildings between August 2000 and April 2001, including video surveillance in Manhattan in April 2001.
Last August, the US government raised the colour-coded threat level of a terrorist attack to orange, or "high", for those specific financial institutions, while in the rest of the country the risk remained at the lower level of yellow.
Federal authorities, who acknowledged that the decision was based mainly on years-old intelligence, said they raised the threat level out of caution, given the proven record of al-Qa'ida in laying plans for its attacks far in advance.
The three men face related charges in the UK. Mr Barot is accused of possessing reconnaissance plans for the US institutions, and having notebooks with information on explosives, poisons, chemicals and related items "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".
Mr Tarmohammed, 26, faces British charges of having plans of the Prudential building, along with Mr Barot. Mr Shaffi, 25, is said to have carried with him an extract from a terrorist handbook, detailing the preparation of chemicals, explosives, and other information.
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3 Charged in plot to attack US finance centers
Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20050412/ap_on_re_us/terror_indictments&sid=84439559
WASHINGTON - Three men with suspected al-Qaida ties, already in British custody, were charged Tuesday with a years-long plot to attack the New York Stock Exchange and other East Coast financial institutions.
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Discovery of the alleged terrorist plan last summer prompted the Homeland Security Department to raise the terror alert for the targeted buildings, located in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J. Security in those cities also was tightened.
A four-count indictment returned by a New York City grand jury alleges the men, all British citizens, visited and conducted surveillance of the buildings and surrounding neighborhoods between August 2000 and April 2001.
The plot was foiled when Pakistani investigators seized a computer with information from the surveillance. British authorities were alerted and arrested eight men, including the three suspects, on terrorism-related charges last August, Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey said.
The indictment "sends a message about our resolve to terrorists," Comey said at a Justice Department news conference.
The grand jury returned the indictment on March 23 but it was unsealed only Tuesday. Named in it are Dhiran Barot, 33, Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26, and Qaisar Shaffi, 26. They could receive life sentences if convicted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in the United States. The indictment lists those weapons as improvised explosive devices and bombs.
U.S. officials claim Barot is a senior al-Qaida figure, known variously as Abu Eisa al-Hindi, Abu Musa al-Hindi and Issa al-Britani.
Prosecutors say the men conducted surveillance on the stock exchange and Citicorp building in New York, the Prudential building in Newark and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, including video surveillance in Manhattan around April 2001.
U.S. officials have previously described detailed surveillance photos and documents, which they believe came from Barot, that were found on the computer in Pakistan. Comey declined to provide any specifics.
Although they allegedly were doing their surveillance at the same time the Sept. 11 hijackers were making their final preparations, nothing in the indictment links this group to the hijackers.
The indictment does not allege any specific actions by the men in the United States or elsewhere after April 2001, though Comey said their plotting continued. "This conspiracy was alive and kicking until August 2004," he said.
Bush administration authorities said the decision to raise the risk of a terrorist attack to "high" for those specific financial institutions was based on an abundance of caution and because of al-Qaida's history of lengthy planning and plotting.
The move, coming in the midst of a tight presidential election, drew criticism from Democrats, who claimed it was aimed at boosting President Bush's re-election effort.
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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/12/three_indicted_on_terror_charges_in_us/
3 charged in plot on U.S. finance centers
By Mark Sherman, Associated Press Writer | April 12, 2005
WASHINGTON --Three men with suspected al-Qaida ties, already in British custody, were charged Tuesday with a years-long plot to attack the New York Stock Exchange and other East Coast financial institutions.
Discovery of the alleged terrorist plan last summer prompted the Homeland Security Department to raise the terror alert for the targeted buildings, located in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J. Security in those cities also was tightened.
A four-count indictment returned by a New York City grand jury alleges the men, all British citizens, visited and conducted surveillance of the buildings and surrounding neighborhoods between August 2000 and April 2001.
The plot was foiled when Pakistani investigators seized a computer with information from the surveillance. British authorities were alerted and arrested eight men, including the three suspects, on terrorism-related charges last August, Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey said.
The indictment "sends a message about our resolve to terrorists," Comey said at a Justice Department news conference.
The grand jury returned the indictment on March 23 but it was unsealed only Tuesday. Named in it are Dhiran Barot, 33, Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26, and Qaisar Shaffi, 26. They could receive life sentences if convicted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in the United States. The indictment lists those weapons as improvised explosive devices and bombs.
U.S. officials claim Barot is a senior al-Qaida figure, known variously as Abu Eisa al-Hindi, Abu Musa al-Hindi and Issa al-Britani.
Prosecutors say the men conducted surveillance on the stock exchange and
U.S. officials have previously described detailed surveillance photos and documents, which they believe came from Barot, that were found on the computer in Pakistan. Comey declined to provide any specifics.
Although they allegedly were doing their surveillance at the same time the Sept. 11 hijackers were making their final preparations, nothing in the indictment links this group to the hijackers.
The indictment does not allege any specific actions by the men in the United States or elsewhere after April 2001, though Comey said their plotting continued. "This conspiracy was alive and kicking until August 2004," he said.
Bush administration authorities said the decision to raise the risk of a terrorist attack to "high" for those specific financial institutions was based on an abundance of caution and because of al-Qaida's history of lengthy planning and plotting.
The move, coming in the midst of a tight presidential election, drew criticism from Democrats, who claimed it was aimed at boosting President Bush's re-election effort.
"Politics had nothing to do with it. You have my word on it," Comey said Tuesday.
The threat level was lowered to yellow for the buildings after the November election.
Barot is charged in England with possessing reconnaissance plans for the U.S. financial institutions and notebooks containing information on explosives, poisons, chemicals and related matters "of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism."
Tarmohammed was charged there, along with Barot, with possessing plans of the Prudential building. Shaffi also was charged in Britain with possessing an extract from the "Terrorist's Handbook" on the preparation of chemicals, explosive recipes and other information.
British proceedings and any sentences would have to be completed before U.S. agents could question the men or seek their extradition, the Crown Prosecution Service said. The trial in Britain is scheduled to begin in January, it said.
"They are indicted here and whether or not they actually ever are extradited here I guess is a matter of discussion," said New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. "But I think it's important, both substantively and symbolically important, that you come here, you do this type of surveillance, we're not going to forget."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as President Bush returned to Washington from his ranch in Texas, called the indictments "another significant step in the global war on terrorism."
"We're going to continue to go after and pursue those who seek to do us harm and those who seek to do harm to the civilized world," McClellan said.
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