Abdel Nur Faces Extradiction To US With Two Others

Police in Trinidad reported Tuesday Abdel Nur, the fourth suspect wanted in connection with the alleged plot to detonate explosives along a fuel pipeline feeding New York's JFK International Airport, has surrendered to authorities.

CNN reports Nur, 57, turned himself in Tuesday morning, and is expected to make his initial court appearance later in the day. Officials believe Nur had been in hiding since news of the alleged terror plot surfaced Saturday.

As ANN reported, the three other suspects in the plot are US citizen Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, and Abdul Kadir -- who, like Nur, is a Guyanan resident. Defreitas is in custody in the US; Kadir and Ibrahim are being held in Trinidad on a provisional warrant, and face possible extradiction to the US.

On Monday, Kadir and Ibrahim went before Trinidad Chief Magistrate Victor Thompson to hear the charges against them. Both men pleaded innocent; a second hearing is scheduled for next Monday, at which time the two could apply for bail -- a move opposed by the US.

"We shall be applying for bail," said the men's attorney, Farid Scoon. "We have been instructed to fight the charges and extradition as the law of Trinidad and Tobago permits."

The US Attorney General's office has until August 2 to file evidence in support of extradition.

In related news, the leader of a radical Muslim group operating in Trindad denied any knowledge of the plot, or that any of the suspects worked for his organization.

US officials say the men may have appealed to Yasin Abu Bakr, the leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen, for financial support for the plot. However, court documents indicate the men did not receive any money from the group, which led a 1990 coup attempt against the Trindad government that left 24 dead.

FMI: www.panynj.gov, www.fbi.gov, www.dhs.gov