Four Seized Over Bomb Plot at Jfk Airport

Anti-terrorism chiefs foiled a plot to blow up giant fuel tanks at New York's JFK airport and last night arrested four men described as 'al-Qaeda wannabes'.

Federal officials tracked the suspected terrorist cell for nine months as they made plans to plant explosives around main fuel lines and tanks to cripple operations at the key international airport.

'Americans love Kennedy and if we hit the airport this whole country would be in mourning, like he was killed twice,' one of the alleged plotters reportedly said during conversations overheard during surveillance.

The plot was foiled well before it came to fruition and the FBI said there was no threat to the public.

One of the alleged terrorists was a former cargo worker at the airport, while another was a US citizen but had lived in Guyana and served as a member of that country's parliament. Another was from Trinidad.

'Even the Twin Towers cannot touch JFK, this can destroy the economy of America,' one of the alleged plotters is believed to have said.

There was no intention to target flights or passengers and 'innocent people', though it is likely there would have been extensive damage and deaths if millions of gallons of jet fuel had been blown up. One of the main lines runs through a nearby residential district.

The principal aim of the plot was apparently to shut down the busy airport and raise new fears about flying into the US. The plot was in the earliest stages of planning and the suspects had not yet bought explosives, but were described as 'determined' by the FBI.

The four were believed to be a sleeper cell, unaffiliated to any organized terror groups. They were infiltrated after they tried to recruit an FBI informer.

'The devastation that would have been caused is just unthinkable,' said US attorney Roslynn Mauskopf.