Jun 6, 2007 9:29 pm US/Eastern
JFK Terror Suspect Once A Member Of Radical Islam
Ibrahim Reportedly Cut Ties With Group In Late 1970s
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CBS/AP) ―
-
-
Terrorists wanted to blow up a jet fuel artery that runs through populous residential neighborhoods.
AP
-
-
Russell "Mohammed" Defreitas (file)
CBS/Jane Rosenberg
-
-
Russell Defreitas, 63, is shown inside the Lindenwood Diner having dinner with a government informant, a man he believed would help plan an attack that would cripple Kennedy Airport and the surrounding neighborhoods.
CBS
A Trinidadian suspected in a plot to ignite a fuel pipeline feeding John F. Kennedy International Airport once belonged to a radical Islamist group here, a spokesman for the group said.
Kala Aki Bua said Wednesday that Kareem Ibrahim cut his ties to Jamaat al Muslimeen in the late 1970s. He repeated the group's denial of any connection to the suspects accused of traveling to Trinidad and Tobago to seek the group's blessing and support.
In an interview inside the group's gated compound, Aki Bua said Jamaat al Muslimeen lacks the resources to even consider aiding an international plot as described by American officials. He held a news conference earlier Wednesday to refute any suggestion it was involved.
"Finance a project like that? Let's get serious. We may as well believe in Santa Claus," Aki Bua told The Associated Press.
Ibrahim, who was arrested Friday in a town outside Port-of-Spain, has not had any association with Jamaat al Muslimeen since he converted to Shia Islam in the 1970s, Aki Bua said. Most of the group's members are black converts to Sunni Islam.
Two other suspects are also in custody in Trinidad -- Abdul Kadir, a former Guyanese lawmaker arrested Friday, and Abdel Nur, a Guyanese national who surrendered Tuesday. All three face a bail hearing Monday.
The fourth suspect, Russell Defreitas, is a former JFK air cargo employee who was arrested in New York. He is a U.S. citizen native to Guyana, a former Dutch and British colony on the northern coast of South America.
U.S. authorities claim the plotters made contacts with Jamaat al Muslimeen, which tried to overthrow the government in Trinidad in 1990, storming Parliament in a rebellion that left 24 people dead. The men did not receive any commitment, according to court documents.
But according to the documents, Nur said he met in May with the group's leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, at his compound and the Islamic leader suggested that he return later with others involved "to discuss the plan in detail."
Abu Bakr told the AP this week that his group has no connection to the suspects.
"I know nothing about these men, and I have nothing to do with whatever they are being charged for," he said.
Abu Bakr's group has said it renounced violence since the failed coup attempt, but authorities have alleged it is involved in drug dealing and kidnapping to raise money. The government has prosecuted Abu Bakr on charges including conspiracy without winning a conviction.
He currently faces charges stemming from a 2005 sermon in which he called for war against rich Muslims who refuse to pay an Islamic tithe used to alleviate poverty. A week afterward, he was arrested by police who razed the group's compound and charged him with sedition and incitement to violence.
Stay with CBS 2 HD and WCBSTV.com for the latest on the JFK terrorism plot.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Expert: JFK Terror Arrests Came Way Too Soon
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
CPSC About To Announce Massive Crib Recall 11 mins ago 
CBS 2 Preview: Back From The Dead 1 hr 33 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments