Hang Right Politics

Posted by Kathy on June 22nd, 2006 in Al Qaeda, GWOT, The Pinocchio Press

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Arrests in Sears Tower terror plot

By KELLI KENNEDY
The Associated Press
Published June 22, 2006, 7:53 PM CDT

MIAMI — Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago’s Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S., a federal law enforcement official said.

The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami.

Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday. Local media reported that agents were raiding a warehouse in Miami’s Liberty City section.

“There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations,” said Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in Washington. He declined further comment.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was scheduled to hold a news conference Friday to discuss the raid. A simultaneous news conference was to be held in Miami.

Cedric Thomas, an owner of Thomas Produce Market, told The Miami Herald the area around his store was teeming with federal agents.

“There is a ton of guys in uniforms moving around, blocking the streets,” Thomas said.

Several terrorism investigations have had south Florida links. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, and several plots by Cuban-Americans against Fidel Castro’s government have been based in Miami.

Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the U.S., is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror cell.

However, Kim over at Wizbang has this from ABC news:

ABC News has learned that federal agents, including the FBI, are launching a series of raids tonight targeting a suspected terror cell based in Miami.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the group allegedly planned to bomb the FBI building in Miami and the Sears Tower in Chicago.

The group has been under surveillance for some time and was infilitrated by a government informant who allegedly led them to believe he was an Islamic radical. The suspects are described as African Americans and at least one man of Caribbean descent.

Sources say the arrests reflect the government’s concern about so-called “homegrown terrorists.” It’s a threat FBI Director Robert Mueller discussed during a recent speech in New York.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the FBI are expected to hold a press conference about the arrests Friday morning.

Could the AP have it wrong? Probably. They always move heaven and earth to make these things look independent from the GWOT using terminology like ‘homegrown cell’.

That would make this a very bad week for Al Qaida indeed. Wonder if the treasure trove in Iraq has something to do with this? Guess we’ll find out at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, when Gonzales speaks.