Salutations on this most Auspicous of Occassions.

Does anyone have the word on WTF happened in New York yesterday? At first the feds and locals said they (the feds) found a car bomb, and arrested the perp, then the Cops came out and gave some Lame ass excuse..."phone card scam" or other, and now...nothing.

Anyone got any new news on this? I had to sign off yesterday as the shift ended, (figures...just as this place gets up and running eh?) and I missed and further intel on the sitrep. Could use a fill-in as this morning the coffee hasn't taken effect yet...

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 31, 1999

Answers

Billy Boy, good morning!

I just got up (went to bed quite late after dragging myself out of Bok's chat). I know it's too soon to tell....but tears in eyes 'cause NZ and Aussieland HAVE POWER! YAY!!!

(sheepish grin) Had to yell that. Hugs, all.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), December 31, 1999.

Mornin', I'll pull the write-up, BRB.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991231/ts/crime_arrests_4.html

Friday December 31 3:12 AM ET

FBI Arrests Man in NY; Allege Ties to Ressam

By Gail Appleson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal agents on Thursday arrested a man they allege has ties to an Algerian accused of trying to bring bomb-making materials into the United States from Canada, as the nation prepared for its millennium celebrations.

Abdel Ghani, 31, also an Algerian, was charged with concealing his ``material support'' of Ahmed Ressam's efforts to smuggle explosives into the Seattle area earlier this month.

The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges that Ghani knew that Ressam was a member of a ``terrorist network of Algerian Nationals'' and had planned to travel with Ressam in the United States to raise funds for the group.

Ressam was arrested on Dec. 14 after crossing into Washington state by ferry from Canada, and U.S. and Canadian authorities are investigating whether he was part of a plot to plant bombs in the United States at New Year's Eve celebrations.

Ghani is also charged with conspiring with others to deal in and use fraudulent credit and bank cards.

``We are not aware of any specific and credible threats against any particular targets, including New York City,'' Howard Safir, New York City police commissioner, told a news conference. He said no explosives were recovered during an early morning raid of Ghani's apartment.

Law enforcement authorities would not comment on whether interviews conducted by the FBI in other cities on Thursday and the arrest of a Canadian woman in Vermont were related to Ghani's case.

However, Lewis Schiliro, who heads the FBI's New York office said, ``This case is not alone. There are other leads being covered.''

The complaint alleged that FBI agents learned from a confidential source that between Dec. 11 and 16, Ghani traveled to and stayed in Seattle where he was to join Ressam.

The source said that Ghani had allegedly explained that Ressam was a member of a ``a well organized group'' that had assigned him to deliver his rental car, loaded with explosives, to a parking lot in Seattle where it would be retrieved by another group member.

Ghani allegedly said that each person involved in the scheme would only know the tasks of two others so that in the event of an arrest, no one could expose more than two other confederates.

Ghani allegedly told the source that he had not known about the explosives before Ressam's arrest, but ``that he would have been with Ressam to the end had he known.'' However, the source said that Ghani said he would not harm women and children.

The source told the FBI that Ghani and another associate agreed that ``Allah will shake up this world, that a new generation will punish America, and that Islam's renaissance will rise from Algeria.'' The source also said that Ghani admitted spending time in Afghanistan, where there are terrorist training camps.

The complaint further alleged that Ghani was supposed to travel with Ressam to Chicago, among other places, to raise funds for the group, but the plan was foiled by Ressam's arrest. During the course of the arrest, federal agents found a piece of paper with Ghani's name and Brooklyn phone number.

After Ressam's arrest, Ghani returned to his Brooklyn apartment and tried to destroy evidence of his trip to Seattle, including an airline ticket and withdrawal slips from ATM machines in Seattle. The withdrawals were from a Brooklyn bank account. Both the account and plane ticket were under the alias of Eduardo Rocha, the complaint alleged.

If convicted, Ghani faces a maximum sentence of 10 years on count one and five years on count two.

FBI agents and police officers had arrested Ghani and three others in an early morning raid in Brooklyn. Authorities later said that two of those individuals were released but a third, Najmeddine Houaichi, 35, also an Algerian, is being held by immigration authorities for allegedly being an illegal alien.

Separately Thursday, U.S. prosecutors in Vermont said they found a link between Ressam and a Canadian woman arrested in Vermont for allegedly smuggling aliens into the United States from Canada.

The woman, Lucia Garofalo, 35, and her husband, Yamin Rachek, have ``clear links to the GIA, a known Algerian terrorist organization,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Tristan Coffin told a detention hearing.

The Armed Islamic Group, known by its French acronym GIA, has carried out a series of bloody attacks in Algeria since 1992, when the authorities canceled a general election in which radical Islamists had taken a commanding lead. More than 100,000 people have been killed since then, according to the authorities.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.

Looks like the feds jumped in, and left the cops holding the mike with nothing to say?

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.