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Officers stand by as New Jersey-bound traffic streams into the New York entrance of the Holland Tunnel Friday in New York. Law enforcement officials say authorities have disrupted planning by foreign terrorists for an attack on New York City tunnels.

By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Authorities have disrupted planning by foreign terrorists for an attack on New York City tunnels, two law enforcement officials said Friday.

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, one official said.

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

It was unclear how far along the planning was.

But the FBI, in a brief statement, said, "At this time, we have no indication of any imminent threat to the New York transportation system or anywhere else in the United States."

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. However, all of lower Manhattan is above the water level, so it is unclear how flooding a tunnel could possibly have affected higher ground.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Another Mother My Sons A Good Boy

More information released on N.Y. terrorist suspect
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB
The Associated Press

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Lebanese suspect arrested in the alleged New York City terror plot is a university professor of economics who is not an al-Qaida militant, his family said Friday. Lebanese officials have said that the detainee, Assem Hammoud, who was arrested in April, had confessed to plotting to attack New York City tunnels on orders from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

But Hammoud's mother disputed the accusations, telling The Associated Press her son drinks alcohol, has girlfriends, has traveled abroad and enjoys social life.

Do we look like al-Qaida people?" asked Nabila Qotob at the family's luxury home in Beirut's upscale Clemenceau neighborhood.
Since her son's arrest, she has visited him every three days at a police station where he is being held. "His morale is high because he is confident he is innocent," she said of her son, who turned 31 on Thursday.

"Don't make up accusations. My son is innocent. What al-Qaida? He never left his father's side. He loves life and fun."

"I am fully confident that my son has nothing to do with al-Qaida, " she said of her son.

Leafing through photo albums, she pointed out his picture with women she identified as girlfriends in Canada, Germany and Belgium.

He did not pray regularly at home, but occasionally went to a mosque for prayers with his father, who passed away last year. Hammoud has two brothers, one is studying in Canada and another works in the United Arab Emirates.

Hammoud, who is single, studied finance and economics in Canada in the late 1990s. He speaks English, French and German besides his native Arabic and taught economics at the Lebanese International University.

He had planned to compete in a car rally in Lebanon this summer before he was arrested April 27 near the university, his mother said.

A doorman in a neighboring building described Hammoud as a very amusing man.

U.S. law enforcement officials in Washington said Friday they had disrupted a plan by foreign terrorists to attack New York City tunnels. FBI agents discovered the plot, which was in the early stages, by monitoring Internet chat rooms used by Islamist extremists.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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