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The federal secret police has thwarted the plot of a terrorist attack in two synagogues in the Bronx neighborhood in New York and to send light missiles over airplanes belonging to the National Guard. Officials in the United States have said that four American Muslims had been arrested after a secret investigation that ran for a whole year, and after they purchased ammunitions from a secret agent.

The first details show that the four men planned to operate an explosive charge or a bombed car nearby a synagogue and a Jewish center- that also serves as a synagogue – in the Riversdale neighborhood located in the Bronx district. In parallel, they planned to fire "Stinger" missiles towards transport airplanes in the basis of the New York National Guard in the city of Newburgh.

The plot was revealed after a relative of the four conspirators heard about their programs and hurried to report the plot to the authorities. He rapidly became an informer for the FBI and helped passing false explosive charges and missiles that allowed for the incrimination of the four men.

The people under arrest are James Cromitie, nicknamed "Abdul Rachman", David Williams nicknamed "Daoud", Onta Williams, nicknamed "Hamza" and Laguerre Payen nicknamed "Amin."

In the framework of the surveillance, the suspects were seen on April the 10^th while they were taking photos of several synagogues and Jewish community centers in the Bronx and other places, in their attempt to localize possible targets for an attack. Two weeks later, the four men met in the Stewart International Airport in New York State that also serves as a base for the air force planes and for the New York National Guard. This very day, they also called an armament dealer in order to purchase pistols for the planned attack.

On April the 24^th, they travelled nearby the Stewart Airport in order to look for a suitable site from which they could fire and crash a transport plane. They took pictures of the airport from various angles and on May the 6^th, they travelled to a warehouse in Connecticut and bought a land-air missile and three improvised explosive charges. They did not know that the weapons had been neutralized and they went on with their plunder in order to complete the details of the operation.

Within two days, they went, along with the equipment, to a warehouse in Newburgh in order to make an experiment in the firing of the missile, they also talked about the possibility of operating an explosive charge in the synagogue through a remote control device.

Source: The Associated Press