US missile sting operation

Terrorism-related charges were levelled yesterday against a British arms dealer who praised Osama bin Laden and thought he was smuggling into the United States missiles that would be used to down commercial aircraft, federal prosecutors announced.

Two other suspected accomplices to the plot, which was really a sting operation orchestrated over the past 18 months by US, Russian and British authorities, face conspiracy charges, the prosecutors said.

"This morning, the terrorists who threatened America lost an ally in their quest to kill our citizens," US Attorney Christopher Christie told a news conference on the plaza of the federal courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.

Moments earlier, two of the three suspects appeared before a federal magistrate amid tight security at the courthouse, where authorities spelled out charges against them.

Hemant Lakhani, identified as a well-known British arms dealer, was accused of providing material support to terrorists and of illegal weapons dealing, Christie said.

A second man, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, was charged with illegally transmitting money to help finance the plot, Christie said. A third, Yehuda Abraham, was due to appear later yesterday in federal court in New York on similar charges.

Lakhani was arrested on Tuesday in Newark after trying to sell a Russian-made shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile to FBI informants posing as extremists who wanted to shoot down a large commercial airliner, officials said.

The missile was intended "specifically for the purpose of shooting an American airliner out of the sky," Christie said.

Commenting on the sting operation, in which an inert missile was used, President George W. Bush said the arrests underscored US efforts to improve airport security.