New York 'jihad' suspects appear in court

Four men accused in a jihadist plot to blow up New York synagogues and destroy a US military plane were described in court Thursday as fanatics "eager to bring death to Jews."

"These are extremely violent men," Prosecutor Eric Snyder said after the suspects were brought into court, cuffed and chained, in White Plains, New York. "These are people eager to bring death to Jews."

The four suspects -- James Cromitie, 55, David Williams, 28, Onta Williams, 32, and Laguerre Payen, 27 -- were nabbed in a raid late Wednesday as they allegedly set in motion a plot to blow up two New York synagogues, then fire a Stinger missile at a US aircraft.

All were living in New York state and three are US citizens, while Payen said in court that he has Haitian citizenship.

Judge Lisa Smith ordered the four detained pending a preliminary hearing set for June 5.

New York police chief Raymond Kelly said the four, who face life in prison if convicted, "stated they wanted to commit jihad," or Muslim holy war.

The dramatic police operation came as debate intensified in Washington over President Barack Obama's plan to ban torture by US security forces and to shut down the controversial and secretive detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The alleged plot was dismantled after a year-long FBI undercover operation in which the suspects were supplied with what they allegedly thought were real weapons, but were in fact duds.

The alleged plan was not on the scale of the September 11, 2001 attacks, when terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and destroyed the World Trade Center in Manhattan, killing nearly 3,000 people.

But the fact that US citizens were accused raised the specter of homegrown terrorists who may be harder to detect than foreign infiltrators.

Snyder described the gang's intentions as "a plot to bring mass murder" and to "destroy military aircraft and kill military personnel."

He said that Cromitie had "complained" that the "best target," meaning the World Trade Center, had already been taken.

The prosecutor described David Williams as the hardest case, saying that "in a group of extremely violent men, he stands out."

Payen attended court later in the day, without his co-defendants, after being treated in hospital for cuts sustained during his arrest, during which police smashed the windows of his car.

The diminutive Haitian immigrant appeared to have trouble understanding proceedings and told the judge in a barely audible voice that he was on anti-depressant medication.

Payen also said he could not read or write.

His lawyer, Marilyn Reader, told the court that Payen "is intellectually challenged." However, Snyder interjected that Payen was perfectly conscious of his actions and that prosecutors had "six to 10 hours of crystal clear video where he is alert" and discussing the alleged plot.

The arrests come as debate in Washington heats up on Obama's attempt to end what many see as the former Republican administration's human rights abuses, while defending himself against accusations that he is soft on terrorism.

In a speech Thursday, he said that national security was his top priority: "That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night."

But former vice president Dick Cheney, an outspoken standard bearer for Republican attacks, launched a new salvo, saying he remained "a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program. The interrogations were used on hardened terrorists after other efforts had failed."

There was no immediate indication that the four accused New Yorkers have any connection to foreign jihadist groups, although they allegedly sympathised with such groups.

New York Representative Peter King said the men, who all used Arabic aliases, were Muslim and that some had converted to Islam in prison.

In June 2008, Cromitie told an FBI informant about his anger over the US-led war in Afghanistan. The suspect then "expressed an interest in doing 'something to America,'" the criminal complaint said.

He also said he wanted to join the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, which Washington designates as a terror organization, to "do jihad."

Beginning in October 2008, the informant began meeting with the four men at a house in which the FBI had concealed video and audio equipment.

The group "expressed desire" to attack targets in New York, and Cromitie "asked the informant to supply surface-to-air guided missiles and explosives," court documents said.

In April 2009, the group agreed on the synagogue they intended to attack and proceeded to conduct surveillance, including taking photographs of the war planes at the military base.