New York plot gains substance

2005-10-07 21:54

New York - The investigation into an alleged plot to bomb the city's subway moved forward on several fronts on Friday as a third suspect was arrested in Iraq.

Authorities looked into whether a fourth person had travelled to New York as part of the scheme, said officials.

A law enforcement official familiar with the case said the man's trip to New York was described by an informant who had spent time in Afghanistan and proved reliable in past investigations.

"He's been a source of multiple correct information in the past," the official said, speaking anonymously because of the continuing investigation.

"Does that mean a fourth person he identified is, in fact, in New York? We don't know that."

The official added that authorities had not confirmed whether the fourth man even existed.

Additional police on subway

Alarmed by the informant's report of a plot to attack city subways with as many as 19 bombs in bags and possibly prams, United States forces in Iraq arrested two suspected plotters who had been under close surveillance until Thursday morning, officials said. The third escaped until his arrest on Friday.

City officials posted thousands of additional uniformed and plainclothes officers throughout the subway system and warned New Yorkers to keep their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.

The announcement sparked behind-the-scenes jostling with security officials in Washington, who downplayed the threat and suggested that mayor Michael Bloomberg may have overreacted.

Bloomberg and police commissioner Ray Kelly vigorously defended their reaction on Friday.

Had received explosives training

"We did exactly the right thing," Kelly said.

Those arrested had received explosives training in Afghanistan, a law enforcement official said on Friday.

They had planned to travel through Syria to New York, and then meet with an unspecified number of operatives to carry out the bombings.

The official said the threat was "specific to place" and that the window for the attack was anywhere from Friday through at least the weekend.

- AP