http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/05/11/2011-05-11_manhattan_da_expected_to_announce_arrest_of_two_men_targeting_nyc_for_terrorist_.html Terror plot arrest: Two men, one born in New York, charged in planned synagogue attacks, say sources
BY Rocco Parascandola
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
Originally Published:Thursday, May 12th 2011, 1:34 AM
Updated: Thursday, May 12th 2011, 9:27 AM
Should the Joint Terrorism Task Force have gotten involved in this case?
Yes, this operation could have been more serious than just an aspirational plan.
No, the NYC DA can handle terror plots like this alone.
I'm not sure.
Two men arrested on terrorism charges were plotting to attack Manhattan synagogues with grenades and assault rifles, sources said Thursday.
The alleged mastermind is a Moroccan Muslim born in Queens who has prior arrests for drugs.
He had enlisted a pal and planned to sell drugs in order to finance the purchase of weapons, law enforcement sources told the Daily News.
No specific synagogue had been targeted, and the plot was still in its early planning stages when detected by investigators with the help of an informant, the sources said.
Both men were caught on wiretaps discussing the plot, according to sources, who said the chilling plan had been hatched several months ago and appears to have pre-dated the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Neither man has any known ties to terror organizations and no other arrests are imminent, the sources said.
The Manhattan district attorney's office is expected to hold a press conference later Thursday to detail the arrests.
In an unusual move, investigators with the Joint Terrorism Task Force had declined to prosecute the case, saying the plan was more aspirational than operational, sources said.
The district attorney's office then picked up the case and is expected to charge the men under a state anti-terrorism law.
The charges come more than a year after an Al Qaeda-trained terrorist failed in his attempt to bomb Times Square on May 1, 2010.
Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized Pakistani living in Connecticut, pleaded guilty to plotting to kill hundreds of New Yorkers with a bomb-laden SUV in the Crossroads of the World.
Law enforcement authorities have been on alert in the wake of the killing of Bin Laden for any retaliatory attack from the terror network.
The Yemeni wing of Al Qaeda has promised to avenge the death of the terror leader.
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