Bail refused for 'JFK plotters'

Abdul Kadir is a former member of Guyana's parliament

A judge in Trinidad has refused bail for three men accused of plotting to blow up JFK airport in New York City.

The three have been ordered to remain in jail until a hearing on 2 August on a US request for their extradition.

The three men - two Guyanans and a Trinidadian - were arrested in Trinidad. A fourth man was arrested in New York over the alleged plot.

The men are accused of conspiring to blow up fuel tanks serving the airport, one of the world's busiest.

"In my view the possibility of absconding is real and based on the nature and seriousness of the offence, bail is refused," said Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls.

US police announced on 2 June that they had broken up the alleged plot.

They said it had not gone beyond the planning stages and was brought to light when one of the suspects approached an FBI informant for help with the plan.

Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad and Abdul Kadir, a former member of parliament of Guyana, were arrested in Trinidad.

US authorities have said both men were associates of Jamaat al Muslimeen, a Muslim organisation behind a coup attempt in Trinidad in 1990.

Abdel Nur of Guyana surrendered himself to police in Trinidad last week after pictures of him appeared on all newspaper front pages and on television.

The fourth suspect was arrested in Brooklyn on 1 June and named as Russell Defreitas, originally from Guyana.