Informant helps expose plot to bomb JFK

AN INFORMANT who helped break up an alleged plot to bomb a fuel pipeline feeding New York’s busiest airport was so convincing to the suspects they thanked God he was with them, federal authorities said.

The informant made several overseas trips to discuss the plot against John F Kennedy International Airport, even visiting a radical Muslim group’s compound in Trinidad, officials said. He also joined the plotters on airport surveillance trips — where authorities were waiting, they said.

The four-person plot, revealed on Saturday, demonstrated the growing importance of informants in the government’s efforts to combat terrorism, particularly as smaller radical groups become more aggressive. Tom Corrigan, a former member of the FBI-New York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force, said the Kennedy airport case illustrated the need for inside information.