New York tunnel plot suspect charged in Lebanon

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Lebanese suspected of plotting to bomb
a rail tunnel in New York was charged in connection with the
case in Beirut last May, judicial sources said on Monday.

U.S. authorities said on Friday they had thwarted a plot to
attack the PATH rail system that links Manhattan and New Jersey
under the Hudson river.

The sources said military prosecutors had accused Assem
Hammoud of “forming a gang with the aim of launching terrorist
attacks.”

Lebanon’s Interior Ministry said the 31-year-old suspect,
arrested in Beirut in April, had confessed he was planning to
spend four months training in Pakistan before launching the
attack late in 2006.

The plot, uncovered by monitoring Internet chat rooms, was
at the planning stage, the FBI and the Department of Homeland
Security said.

Hammoud’s family has denied he was involved in such a plot.

Judicial sources said five other unidentified suspects were
also charged, but declined to elaborate. If convicted, Hammoud
could go to prison for life.