N.Y. Airport Target of Plot, Officials Say

The four men allegedly planned to disable the airport control tower from which security officials monitor fuel tank locations, and then use two explosions to blow up the double tanks and provide enough oxygen to ignite the fuel inside.

Defreitas described a cell of six participants, according to the complaint. However, the plot never reached an "operational stage" that put the airport in any danger, and officials said the cell never succeeded in obtaining explosives.

Also charged are Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir and Abdel Nur. Ibrahim, a Trinidadian, and Kadir are being detained in Trinidad, and U.S. officials are seeking their extradition to New York. Kadir is a former member of the Guyanese Parliament and a former mayor of Linden, Guyana. Nur, a Guyanese national of Pakistani descent, is still at large.

If convicted of conspiring to attack the airport, they would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The complaint alleges that the four men tapped into an international terrorist network, utilizing its knowledge, expertise and contacts to devise the plot and to obtain operational support and capability to carry it out.

The complaint alleges that Defreitas traveled several times to meet with Kadir and Nur in Guyana, and later with Ibrahim in Trinidad, seeking financial and technical assistance.

Guyana and the island nation of Trinidad possess small but relatively influential Islamic communities. Both countries also stand out because of their sizable South Asian populations.

In 1990, Jamaat al Muslimeen held the prime minister of Trinidad and members of parliament hostage for five days while rioting and looting occurred in Port-of-Spain. After a long standoff, Jamaat leader Yasin Abu Bakr and his followers surrendered to Trinidadian authorities but were later granted amnesty.

Officials and industry experts said an attack on fuel tanks and pipelines at JFK could have caused significant financial and psychological damage, but not major loss of life.

The tanks are linked to a pipeline that distributes fuel to sites from New York to Pennsylvania. Buckeye Partners L.P. operates the 40-mile pipeline, which originates in Linden, N.J., where Buckeye receives oil shipments from the nearby Bayway refinery or from tankers unloading at deepwater terminals.

From there it crosses Staten Island and goes underwater to Brooklyn, and travels mostly along the Long Island Rail Road right-of-way to the airport.

Because of their thickness and safeguards, such pipelines are difficult to damage, an official said.