Report: Holland Tunnel bomb plot uncovered

[Janice]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A plot to bomb New York's Holland Tunnel in an effort to flood the Wall Street financial district has been uncovered by the FBI, with a suspect arrested in Lebanon, New York's Daily News reported on Friday.

The newspaper, quoting unidentified counterterrorism sources, said the investigation involved what officials considered a "serious plot" to detonate enough explosives inside the landmark tunnel to destroy it and send devastating floodwaters through lower Manhattan.

The 79-year-old tunnel runs under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan and carried almost 34 million vehicles in 2005.

The Daily News said authorities in Beirut, at the request of U.S. officials, arrested one of the suspected conspirators, identified as Amir Andalousli, in recent months and that agents were seeking other suspects around the world.

The newspaper said the FBI and New York police officials declined comment on the investigation, which it quoted a source as describing as "ongoing."

The Daily News quoted a counterterrorism source as saying officials were alarmed because the plotters allegedly got a pledge of financial and tactical support from Jordanian associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq before he was killed last month in a U.S. air strike. The paper said it was not clear if any cash or assistance was delivered.

Lebanon's government had been asked by the United States to hold off on announcing the arrest while operations to disrupt the plot were continuing, the Daily News quoted sources as saying.

It said New York officials, according to sources, believed the plan could conceivably work with enough explosives placed in the middle of the tunnel.

But it added that some experts did not consider the plan feasible because the tunnel was protected by concrete and cast-iron steel and that even if the tunnel cracked, the Wall Street district would not flood because it was above the level of the river.

Seven men were charged in the United States last month with conspiring to blow up the landmark Sears Tower in Chicago and FBI buildings in Miami and four other cities as part of a pledge to al Qaeda to wage war against America. U.S. officials said the plot never went beyond the earliest stages.

[Cookiely]

I think someone is a fan of Sylvester Stallone.

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

I don't think these terrorists have ever actually seen the Holland Tunnel. It's below street level.....making it kind of impossible to flood Manhattan in that manner.

This plot is as boneheaded as the shoe bomber.

[Brent]

I don't think these terrorists have ever actually seen the Holland Tunnel. It's below street level.....making it kind of impossible to flood Manhattan in that manner.

This plot is as boneheaded as the shoe bomber.

Yeah. Apparently it was just "talk". The FBI infiltrated chat rooms where they were talking about it. They've never even been to the sites... and unlike the Miami terror cell a couple of weeks ago, these people did not live in the U.S. The flood idea came from Katrina.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I don't think these terrorists have ever actually seen the Holland Tunnel. It's below street level.....making it kind of impossible to flood Manhattan in that manner.

This plot is as boneheaded as the shoe bomber.

Yeah. Apparently it was just "talk". The FBI infiltrated chat rooms where they were talking about it. They've never even been to the sites... and unlike the Miami terror cell a couple of weeks ago, these people did not live in the U.S. The flood idea came from Katrina.

Exactly! And don't think I haven't heard more than a few people around here say how much they feared that Katrina showed the vulnerability of this entire area--and since New Orleans/SE La. is the nation's largest port area, I sure as heck hope they're staying on top of any plans these fanatics could be speculating upon about this area.

A2K

[wx247]

Ok... well if any of you were watching this news conference this afternoon you would probably be changing your tune. I was watching it and the reports that we originally printed in this morning's New York Daily News was somewhat inaccurate in that it is the Path trains that connect NJ to Manhattan that were being targeted. While this was still in the planning stages apparently the attack was scheduled to occur in October or November of this year.