Plot on N.Y. Tunnels Alleged
NEW YORK — U.S. authorities, aided by Lebanon, have disrupted a plot by foreign terrorists to blow up commuter train tunnels beneath the Hudson River that connect Lower Manhattan and New Jersey, FBI officials said Friday.
The alleged plan, involving eight conspirators based in other countries, was "the real deal," FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon said at a news conference in Manhattan.
Mershon, head of the bureau's New York field office, said that although no explosives had been purchased by the suspects, "the plotting of the attack had matured to the point where it appeared the individuals were about to move forward, attempt to surveil targets, establish a regimen of attack, and acquire resources" to carry it out.
Three co-conspirators are in custody overseas, Mershon said, including the suspected mastermind, 31-year-old Assem Hammoud of Beirut. Authorities have tentatively identified the other five, Mershon added, and manhunts for them are proceeding.
Lebanese authorities, working with the FBI, arrested Hammoud in April, and he confessed to orchestrating the planned attacks, which were to occur sometime in October or November, according to Mershon and Lebanon's Interior Ministry.
Hammoud had taken an oath of allegiance, or bayat, to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and faces unspecified terrorism-related charges in Lebanon, Mershon said.
Mershon would not identify the other two suspects in custody or provide additional details of the alleged plot, saying he did not want to jeopardize an investigation that remained active on three continents.
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the tunnels allegedly were targeted not only to kill many commuters but to severely damage the surrounding area.
"It's certainly possible that by bombing the train tunnels, the operatives could even have unleashed a severe flood on Lower Manhattan," said the official, who asked not to be identified because of the case's highly sensitive nature.
Mershon's contention that the suspects were about to enter an operational phase of the plot is a matter of some dispute.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a televised interview that the alleged co-conspirators were just "talking to one another" when authorities intervened.
And New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, "There is not one shred of evidence that the plan continued beyond the planning stage. New Yorkers should feel safe."
