Authorities say they disrupted plan to attack New York tunnels

WASHINGTON -- Authorities have disrupted planning by foreign terrorists for an attack on the transportation network, including tunnels, in the New York City-New Jersey area, two federal agencies announced Friday.

"We have disrupted a terrorist network that was in the planning stages of an attack," said a statement released jointly at midmorning by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.

FBI agents monitoring Internet chat rooms used by extremists learned in recent months of the plot to strike a blow at the city's economy by destroying vital transportation networks, an official said earlier.

The two agencies also said in the statement that "a significant development in this investigation was the arrest of a key suspect by Lebanese authorities."

Authorities in Lebanon, acting on a U.S. request, have arrested one of the alleged plotters, identified as Amir Andalousli, a second official said. The federal officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way.

A senior Lebanese security official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was arrested a month ago. He said his real name is as Assem Hammoud, and that the native of Beirut admitted to the plot.

"Hammoud is a member of al-Qaida and he confessed to this" plot information frankly and without coercion, the Lebanese security official said.

One U.S. official said other arrests in the plot had been made overseas, and not all were in Lebanon. The official would not say how many people are believed to be involved.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut would not comment on the matter.

The spokesperson also said that both Lebanon and the United States are developing solid cooperation in the areas of law enforcement and counterterrorism. "Preventing terrorist attacks is in the interest of both of our countries," the embassy official said.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said, "This is one instance where intelligence was on top of its game and discovered the plot when it was just in the talking phase."

In its statement, Homeland Security and the FBI said, "This investigation is ongoing."

"We know al-Qaida continues to have an interest in attacking the United States," it added. "At this point in time, there is no specific or credible information that al-Qaida is planning an attack on U.S. soil.

"At the same time, the FBI, through the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, will continue to investigate suspected activities here and abroad with our partners from the U.S. and international law enforcement and intelligence community," the statement said.

The planning for the tunnel attacks was first reported by the New York Daily News in its Friday editions, the first anniversary of the attacks on the London transportation system that killed 52 people.

The planning was not far along, one U.S. official said, but authorities "take aspirations of that sort seriously."

"At this time we have no indication of any imminent threat to the New York transportation system, or anywhere else in the U.S.," Richard Kolko, Washington-based FBI special agent, said in a statement.

Another U.S. official called the plot "largely aspirational" and described the Internet conversations as mostly extremists discussing and conceptualizing the plot. The official said no money had been transferred, nor had other similar operational steps been taken.

Last month, authorities announced the arrests of seven men in Miami and Atlanta in the early stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower and other buildings in the United States. That plan was described by deputy FBI director John Pistole at the time as aspirational, rather than operational.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said that federal law enforcement and New York police have been monitoring a plot to attack New York's mass transit system for at least eight months.

"There was nothing imminent, but it was being monitored for long period of time," said King, who said he has received regular intelligence briefings on the alleged plot as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

King said he had been unable to publicly disclose the plot because to do so would risk the investigation.

"This is ongoing, that's why I've said nothing about it until now," King said. "It would have been better if this had not been disclosed."

The Daily News reported that the plotters wanted to blow up the Holland Tunnel, the southernmost link between Manhattan and New Jersey, in the hopes of flooding New York's financial district. The desired effect would be akin to the flooding that ravaged New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the newspaper said.

A government official with knowledge of the investigation said while the alleged plot did focus on New York's transportation system, it did not target the Holland Tunnel. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing, would give no further details about the intended targets.

It's unlikely that any plan to flood the financial district would work because it is above the level of the Hudson River.