MANHATTAN, N.Y., April 12 (UPI) -- An indictment unsealed Tuesday in New York says three men held in Britain conspired to blow up financial centers in New York, New Jersey and Washington.
The indictment said Dhiran Barot, Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi, all British nationals, spent months surveying financial targets in 2000 and 2001.
During trips from Britain to the United States in 2000 and 2001, the three reconnoitered the Citicorp Building and the New York Stock Exchange in New York; the Prudential Building in Newark, N.J.; and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the Washington, the Justice Department said.
In Washington, Deputy Attorney General Patrick Comey said discovery of the alleged plot led to last summer's orange alert status in the three financial centers.
Comey said the three were "part of a conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in terror attacks against the United States."
The three are being held in Britain on terror-related charges.
Comey said the alleged plot was part of a pattern "to kill Americans in a spectacular way."
He said the department would seek extradition.
