"... Prosecutors said Kadir and [Russell] Defreitas had planned to use explosives to blow up fuel tanks and underground pipes that run through a nearby neighborhood."
An update on this story. "Abdul Kadir jailed over New York JFK airport fuel plot," from BBC News, December 15:
One of the two men convicted of plotting to blow up fuel tanks at New York's JFK airport has been sentenced to life in prison.
A US District Court judge said the plan involving Abdul Kadir, a former member of Guyana's parliament, would have caused "unimaginable" devastation.
The 58-year-old told the judge he had been wrongly convicted of the charges.
Kadir and Russell Defreitas, who worked at JFK, reportedly intended to kill thousands of people in the 2007 plot.
In a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, US District Judge Dora Irizarry said "there can be no doubt whatsoever that the offences for which Mr Kadir was convicted are about as serious as they come, short of murder".
Al-Qaeda link
At the trial of the two men in August this year, prosecutors said Kadir and Defreitas had planned to use explosives to blow up fuel tanks and underground pipes that run through a nearby neighbourhood - a murderous act they thought would shake the US economy.
Prosecutors also said Kadir and Defreitas, 67, had shot video and photos of the airport, studied airport security and planned escape routes.
Prosecutors claimed the pair had sought the help of militant Muslims and at least one al-Qaeda operative in Guyana.
But the plan to blow up fuel tanks at the airport was uncovered when an informant recorded a discussion about the plot between the two men.
Defreitas was captured on the recordings, saying he had an insider's knowledge of JFK International Airport and its vulnerabilities.
Sentencing for Defreitas is scheduled for 21 January.
Another co-conspirator heard in the tape recordings, Abdel Nur, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the case and is awaiting sentencing.
A fourth, Kareem Ibrahim, was found too ill to stand trial.
Kadir and Defreitas, 67, worked at the airport...
Yes. Again, young and poor, oppressed in their current living conditions, without hope.
Except they probably had cushy union jobs. Maybe they planned their bombing during paid time off.
Jihad has no age limitations, it's for the young and the old...
"Kadir and Russell Defreitas, who worked at JFK, reportedly intended to kill thousands of people in the 2007 plot."
It's amazing how many Muslims work at great jobs in civilized countries...(Jobs given to them without regard to their religion by mindless recruiters who apparently know nothing about Islam)...who secretly plan to kill because they religion (Islam) instructs them to do so...
As you screen job applicants and you realize the applicant is Muslim...you must consider the risks if you hire him...potential deadly and costly risks...Muslims will burn you one way or the other...sooner or later...It happens far too frequently to ignore...
Ann Coulter is right--you don't check for weapons at the airport, you check people. And the terrorists all look alike. Now, I don't think they all look alike, but hey, we know what a lot of them do look like. I wonder and worry when the next atrocity will occur, and how the left will tell us that it's because of deprivation that the poor souls are so misguided.
So one of those spends the rest of their lives in Prison, they lose their freedom. What freedom? They are consumed with hatred and rage, they had no freedom anyway. All that happens is that they do the praying five times a day thing, see themselves as a victim and cost the taxpayer thousands a week for keeping them under lock and key and fed and watered.