First Photos: NYC Synagogue Terror Plot

These are the first images of the alleged terrorists who plotted to attack New York synagogues dressed as Hasidic Jews.

Mohammad Mamdouh, 20, and 27-year-old Ahmed Ferhani were caught as they tried to acquire a fearsome arsenal of weapons from an undercover NYPD officer, police said.

Police displayed the haul, which included two Browning semi-automatic pistols, a Smith and Wesson handgun, ammunition and a hand grenade, at a press conference this afternoon after the suspects were arrested during the undercover sting operation.

In dramatic scenes, officers seized the pair as they allegedly tried to buy the weapons in exchange for drugs – with one of the pair allegedly confessing to the plot moments before the bust.

In court yesterday, prosecutors outlined details of the alleged plot.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said Ferhani and Moroccan pal Mamdouh were to sneak into, ‘A major synagogue in Manhattan’ disguised as Hasidic Jews, complete with side curls and beard.

He said: ‘He [Ferhani] was committed to violent jihad, and his plan became bigger and more violent with each passing week.’

Speaking to the New York Daily News, Neighbours of Ferhani doubted he was capable of such an act, and described the pair as ‘knuckleheads’.

Mamdouh, of Moroccan descent and Ferhani, of Algerian descent, were arrested late on Tuesday night. One is a U.S. citizen and the other is a legal resident. Both already had weapons in their possession, police said.

It emerged today that both had been arrested for robbery last year. Ferhani, 27, has a criminal record for narcotics, and was allegedly trying to sell drugs to fund the gun deal.

Described as the alleged ringleader of the attack, he moved to America in 1995 when his family sought asylum from war-torn Algeria. He went on to work as a cosmetics salesman at Saks Fifth Avenue, but had been known to police for some time.

Mamdouh, who worked as a taxi dispatcher, had moved to the U.S. from Morocco in 1999, and is an American citizen. He was set to serve 90 days in jail under a plea deal for a robbery last October.

He allegedly broke into the home of 23-year-old Joann Ocampo in Queens, stealing property worth $5,000 her laptop, jewellery, a bottle of vodka – and kicking her four-year-old poodle, Lulu, so viciously she ended up with broken ribs.

After hearing about the alleged plot, Miss Ocampo told the Daily News: ‘I’m terrified, to be quite honest. He broke into my house. Luckily, I was not there that night.’

It is the first terror plot uncovered in Manhattan since Osama Bin Laden was killed almost two weeks ago, and will raise fears in a city already on high alert for reprisals.

Yesterday afternoon, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed that police ‘arrested two men who said they wanted to destroy a major synagogue in Manhattan and then purchased several weapons and a grenade from an undercover officer.’

Speaking at the press conference with Bloomberg, where the weapons were displayed for the media on a table, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the pair were arrested immediately after the purchase.

Bloomberg said there had been 13 plots against New York since the September 11, 2001 mass murder of nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center.

Officials described Mamdouh and Ferhani as Islamist extremists bent on killing Jews, but said they were ‘lone wolves’ not connected to any formal group such as Al Qaeda.

‘They did it for Jihad,’ District Attorney Cyrus Vance, the head prosecutor in the case, said.

‘He was fed up with the way Moslems were being treated around the world. “They’re treating us like dogs,”’ Kelly quoted one defendant as saying.

‘We will blow up the synagogue in Manhattan and take out the entire building,’ Kelly also quoted a suspect as saying.

Ferhani ‘also expressed interest in bombing the Empire State Building,’ according to Kelly.

Ferhani showed a pattern of growing anger, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said.

‘His plans became bigger and more violent with every passing week.’

Officials have not yet released any details about the location of the planned attack on the synagogue but it is thought to be a ‘major’ temple.

The NYPD’s intelligence division are said to have tracked the men for some time, before launching a sting yesterday.

According to a police source, both men are ‘homegrown’ radicalised Muslims of North African origin, a scenario law enforcement officials warned against in the wake of Bin Laden’s death.

According to a criminal complaint drafted under state terror laws, the undercover officer had several meetings with the men where Ferhani discussed the idea of attacking a synagogue.

Mamdouh emphasized the need for proper training, the complaint said, so they would not get caught like ‘the one that put the car in Times Square’ – a reference to the failed bombing last year by Faisal Shahzad.

Ferhani suggested disguising himself as a worshipping Jew to infiltrate a synagogue and leaving a bomb inside, the complaint said. He also discussed using grenades, ‘and described pulling the pins and throwing them into the synagogue,’ it added.

On May 5, the undercover officer introduced the men to another officer pretending to be an illegal gun dealer at a meeting where Ferhani stated he needed the weapons “for the cause,” the complaint said.

‘We gonna be victorious,’ it quoted Ferhani as saying.

At a meeting on Wednesday in Manhattan, one of the undercover officers handed Ferhani a bag carrying three handguns, three boxes of ammunition and the inert grenade. As soon as he put the bag into the trunk of a car, he was arrested, the complaint said.

In an unusual move, the pair were being charged by New York state, not federal prosecutors. Vance said there were four counts under terrorism and hate crimes laws. The charges carry a potential penalty of life in prison.

The pair will appear in criminal court in lower Manhattan today, and are likely to face state terrorism rather than federal charges, the New York Post reported.

It is understood the joint FBI-NYPD anti-terrorism task force were aware of the investigation, but chose not to become involved.

The case is the first of its kind since U.S. Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden at his Abbottobad compound in Pakistan.

New York City was placed on high alert immediately after the raid on May 1, with the NYPD and Port Authority putting extra officers on train stations, airports and the subway.

After Bin Laden’s death, CIA director Leon Panetta said: ‘Though Bin Laden is dead, Al Qaeda is not. The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must – and will – remain vigilant and resolute.’

NYPD chief Ray Kelly warned all police commands to remain on high alert.