Hudson River bombing plot
Encyclopedia
On July 7, 2006, the FBI announced that they had foiled a plot that was in its "talking phase" by foreign militants to detonate explosives in tunnels connecting New Jersey
with Manhattan
and drown the New York financial district
with a torrent of water. This was unfeasible because the tunnel is embedded in bedrock, and the target is above sea level. The report, however, made international news. The government initially protested about how the story was leaked to the New York Daily News.
was said to be the leader of the plotters, and is accused of having links to extremist groups since 1994.
He had studied finance and economics at Concordia University
in Canada from 1995 to 2002, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce
degree, before returning to Beirut
where he became a professor of economics or computer science at the Lebanese International University
.
His girlfriend lives in Canada, and one of his two brothers is still studying in Canada, while the other lives in Beirut along with his mother Nabila Qotob. Nabila has denied Assem's involvement with Al-Qaeda
He speaks English, French, Arabic and German, and drives a 1965 MG
. In online communities, he went by the moniker Amir Andalousi, a term referring to a Spanish prince, when it was still a Muslim territory. His family is thought to have migrated to Lebanon from Spain in the year 800.
He was arrested by Lebanese
authorities in May or June 2006, while waiting for a Canadian Visa
.
English media press reports on March 17, 2009 stated that he had appeared on Lebanese television and had been released on bail in June, 2008 (with the information only now coming out).
, a Yemen
i, a Jordan
ian, a Palestinian
and an Iran
ian, all of whom are still at large. Two other suspects are in custody. None of the eight men had ever met in person.
, which the FBI claims were a form of secret code. They began monitoring discussion in online chat room
s.
Authorities said that the plot was far from complete, but was expected to be scheduled for October or November 2006. The New York Daily News
reported that the plot hoped to blow up the Holland Tunnel
and cause extensive flooding through lower Manhattan, but authorities have denied that the Holland Tunnel was the specific target.
The Lebanese Internal Security Forces released a statement from Hammoud's confession in which he said he was acting "on a religious order from bin Laden
", and that said he had sent his colleagues maps and details about the means to perpetrate the attack and had planned to travel to Pakistan
for a four-month training program. In 2003, Hammoud had met with a Syria
n who took him to Ain al-Hilweh
, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, to practice with weapons.
In 2005, Hammoud met with a foreign man who asked Hammoud to provide weapons and shelter to mujahideen
.
said that there "was never a concern that (the plot) would actually be executed", and that by the time the news was released to the public on July 7, 2006, the plot was entirely foiled.
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
with Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and drown the New York financial district
Financial District, Manhattan
The Financial District of New York City is a neighborhood on the southernmost section of the borough of Manhattan which comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York...
with a torrent of water. This was unfeasible because the tunnel is embedded in bedrock, and the target is above sea level. The report, however, made international news. The government initially protested about how the story was leaked to the New York Daily News.
Assem Hammoud
Born July 6, 1975, Assem HammoudAssem Hammoud
Assem Hammoud , aka Amir Andalousi, a Beirut native, is an alleged Al Qaeda operative living in Lebanon who was charged with plotting a mission to blow up the PATH train tunnels beneath the Hudson River between New Jersey and lower Manhattan, New York City, United States with a team of suicide...
was said to be the leader of the plotters, and is accused of having links to extremist groups since 1994.
He had studied finance and economics at Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
in Canada from 1995 to 2002, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce is an undergraduate degree in commerce and related subjects. The degree is also known as the Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, or BCA...
degree, before returning to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
where he became a professor of economics or computer science at the Lebanese International University
Lebanese International University
The Lebanese International University is a private university established by the philanthropist and former Lebanese defense and education minister Abdul Rahim Mourad...
.
His girlfriend lives in Canada, and one of his two brothers is still studying in Canada, while the other lives in Beirut along with his mother Nabila Qotob. Nabila has denied Assem's involvement with Al-Qaeda
He speaks English, French, Arabic and German, and drives a 1965 MG
MG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
. In online communities, he went by the moniker Amir Andalousi, a term referring to a Spanish prince, when it was still a Muslim territory. His family is thought to have migrated to Lebanon from Spain in the year 800.
He was arrested by Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
authorities in May or June 2006, while waiting for a Canadian Visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
.
English media press reports on March 17, 2009 stated that he had appeared on Lebanese television and had been released on bail in June, 2008 (with the information only now coming out).
Others
Other alleged co-conspirators were described as a SaudiSaudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, a Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
i, a Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian, a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
and an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian, all of whom are still at large. Two other suspects are in custody. None of the eight men had ever met in person.
Planning
The majority of the planning for the attacks was said to have taken place in "extremely vague" messages sent between online user accounts on a websiteWebsite
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, which the FBI claims were a form of secret code. They began monitoring discussion in online chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
s.
Authorities said that the plot was far from complete, but was expected to be scheduled for October or November 2006. The New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
reported that the plot hoped to blow up the Holland Tunnel
Holland Tunnel
The Holland Tunnel is a highway tunnel under the Hudson River connecting the island of Manhattan in New York City with Jersey City, New Jersey at Interstate 78 on the mainland. Unusual for an American public works project, it is not named for a government official, politician, or local hero or...
and cause extensive flooding through lower Manhattan, but authorities have denied that the Holland Tunnel was the specific target.
The Lebanese Internal Security Forces released a statement from Hammoud's confession in which he said he was acting "on a religious order from bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
", and that said he had sent his colleagues maps and details about the means to perpetrate the attack and had planned to travel to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
for a four-month training program. In 2003, Hammoud had met with a Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n who took him to Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with over 70,000 refugees, located on the outskirts of the port of Sidon. Because Lebanese Armed Forces are not allowed to enter the camp Ain al-Hilweh has been called a "zone of unlaw" by the Lebanese media...
, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, to practice with weapons.
In 2005, Hammoud met with a foreign man who asked Hammoud to provide weapons and shelter to mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
.
Plot foiled
Michael ChertoffMichael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. He previously served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a federal prosecutor, and as assistant U.S. Attorney...
said that there "was never a concern that (the plot) would actually be executed", and that by the time the news was released to the public on July 7, 2006, the plot was entirely foiled.