Airport pair on terror charge

TWO men arrested at New York’s JFK Airport have been charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism.

Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 26, were arrested on Saturday before they could board separate flights to Egypt and then continue on to Somalia, federal officials in New Jersey and New York Police Department said. The men had been under investigation since 2006.

US authorities say they intended to join a jihadist group in Somalia and kill American troops overseas.

The pair face charges of conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap persons outside the United States by joining al-Shabab, a militant group based in Somalia and linked to al-Qaeda.

They were due to appear in a federal court in Newark, New Jersey, today.