Terror cell's 'airport attack plan'

They say the plot was intended to kill thousands of people and trigger an economic catastrophe by blowing up a jet fuel artery that runs through populous residential New York neighbourhoods.

Three men, one of them a former member of Guyana's parliament, were arrested and one was being sought in Trinidad as part of a plot that authorities said they had been tracked for more than a year and was foiled in the planning stages.

"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable," US Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said at a news conference, calling it "one of the most chilling plots imaginable".

In an indictment charging the four men, one of them is quoted as saying the foiled plot would "cause greater destruction than in the September 11 attacks", destroying the airport, killing several thousand people and destroying parts of New York's borough of Queens, where the line runs underground.

One of the suspects, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen from the South American country of Guyana and former JFK air cargo employee, said the airport named for the assassinated president was targeted because it is a symbol that would put "the whole country in mourning".

"It's like you can kill the man twice," said Defreitas, 63, who first hatched his plan more than a decade ago when he worked as a cargo handler for a service company, according to the indictment.

Authorities said the men were motivated by hatred toward the US, Israel and the West. Despite their efforts, the men never obtained any explosives, authorities said.

Defreitas was charged in federal court in Brooklyn, where he was held pending a bail hearing on Wednesday. Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, were in custody in Trinidad, a Caribbean island. A fourth man, Abdel Nur of Guyana, was still being sought in Trinidad.

Trevor Paul, the top police official in Trinidad and Tobago, said Kadir and Ibrahim would likely be extradited to the US after court hearings in Trinidad.