WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (AFP) - FBI agents arrested two leaders of a mosque in Albany, New York in a sting operation involving a supposed terrorist plot, money laundering and a shoulder-fired missile, officials said Thursday.
Yassin Muhiddin Aref, 34, and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, 49 -- imam and founder respectively of the Masjid As-Salaam mosque -- were arrested late Wednesday in a raid that wrapped up a year-long investigation, Deputy Attorney General James Comey said.
Comey said the two men had agreed to launder money for an undercover FBI agent posing as an arms importer for terrorist cells operating in the United States.
The agent showed them a shoulder-fired missile he said was destined for the Pakistani militant outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammad. He said the group planned to use it against a Pakistani diplomat in New York City in retaliation for President Pervez Musharraf`s support for the US-led war on terror.
The two men allegedly received 40,000 dollars from the agent -- supposedly his fee for importing the missile -- and returned 25,000 dollars in business checks.
While stressing that it was not exactly "the case of the century," Comey said the operation was still significant.
"We hope it will send a disrupting message to those out there who might be plotting to harm people in this country," Comey said.
"We are working very, very hard to infiltrate the enemy," he added. "Anyone engaging in terrorist planning would be very wise to consider whether their accomplice is not really one of our guys."
Aref and Hossain were charged with concealing material support for terrorism and participating in a money laundering conspiracy.
The case carried echoes of a similar operation last year in New Jersey, where a British arms dealer was arrested for trying to sell a shoulder-fired missile to an undercover agent posing as a terrorist.
Comey stressed that the Albany arrests bore no relation to a recent heightened terror alert regarding possible attacks on US financial institutions.
US officials announced Sunday that al-Qaeda was targeting the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, as well as the New York Stock Exchange and Prudential Finance in Newark, New Jersey.
Comey declined to comment on whether Aref and Hossain had any real links to terrorist groups, saying only that he expected the government to give details of their backgrounds at a future detention hearing.
The missile used in the sting operation was disarmed.
"There was never any danger of it falling into the bad guy`s hands or being used because it was our missile and it was inert," Comey said.
New York Governor George Pataki told reporters in Albany that law enforcement agencies would continue to pursue an "aggressive and pro-active" policy in tracking down terrorists and their abettors.
"The fact is there are terrorists among us who want to engage in acts to attack us again and take away our freedoms," Pataki said.