Three Extradited in JFK Plot Plead Not Guilty

Three Muslim men were extradited from Trinidad and Tobago yesterday and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to charges that they had conspired to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In court, Abdul Kadir, Kareem Ibrahim, and Abdel Nur said nothing beyond "yes, ma'am" in response to questions by a magistrate judge, Cheryl Pollak. Their attorneys entered the not guilty pleas on their behalf.

The three men, two of whom hail from Guyana, were charged last year along with a fourth man, a retired cargo worker from Brooklyn, with plotting to explode fuel tanks and pipes at the airport.

The terrorist plot was in its early stages, prosecutors say. Court documents allege that some of the defendants discussed the possibility of seeking funding and logistical help from Muslim groups in Britain or Iran, although prosecutors would not say whether the defendants took any steps in that direction.

Messrs. Kadir, Ibrahim, and Nur have spent the last year in Trinidad fighting American extradition efforts. Yesterday, the three men, all in their late 50s or early 60s, stood meekly before Magistrate Pollak. None turned around to inspect the rows of FBI agents, prosecutors, and reporters present. Although the men were not in handcuffs, they held their hands clasped behind their backs.

Mr. Kadir, a former mayor and member of parliament in his native Guyana, appeared disoriented on entering the courtroom and walked toward a counsel's table before a deputy marshal steered him forward.

The defendants each had requests. They sought the return of eyeglasses and documents seized during their extraditions. A lawyer for Mr. Ibrahim, Michael Hueston, requested medical attention for his client, who has diabetes and recently suffered a fall in Trinidad that resulted in stitches to the back of his head.

Outside court, Mr. Nur's attorney, Daniel Nobel, cautioned against a rush to judgment on the men's guilt.

The Department of Justice has "a history of cases with enormously exaggerated charges," he said. Mr. Nobel predicted that "this would prove to be one of these cases."

He described Mr. Nur, who turned himself in to Trinidadian authorities after his co-defendants were arrested, as "a gracious guy who would in no way conspire to do others harm."