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NYC Plot: 'Real Deal' Or 'Bravado'?
 Despite the FBI's announcement that it disrupted a terror plot against New York City-area commuter trains Friday, CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart has learned that the plans were mere "jihadist bravado," according to one senior official. Authorities said the plot by foreign terrorists to attack the train tunnels beneath the Hudson River used by thousands of New York commuters every day, had eight principal players, three in custody, including the mastermind, 31-year-old Lebanese national Assem Hammoud, the only one of the suspects currently charged in his home country. However, the senior official tells Stewart that the men arrested are "far less threatening and dangerous than the Canadian cell," and unlike the Torrance, Calif., cell, which had begun conducting holdups to further their terrorist plans, these individuals had done nothing but talk over the Internet. The FBI disagreed. "This is a plot that involved martyrdom and explosives and certain of the tubes that connect Jersey and lower Manhattan," FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon said during a news conference. He called the plot the "real deal." "We believe we intercepted this group early in their plotting and, in fact, the plan has largely been disrupted," Mershon said. Initial reports said the terrorists wanted to attack the Holland Tunnel. But Mershon said the group specifically mentioned only the PATH train tunnels between New York and New Jersey. Posted by: Fred 2006-07-09 |
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