Terrorists may have plotted bomb attacks against New York nightlife spots last Christmas, timed to coincide with a failed attack against an airliner, a report on Friday quoted the FBI as saying.
The report by Fox News quoted a previously unpublished FBI warning that a militant group linked to a Somali man in New York was considering a plan to set off bombs "on 25 December to coincide with the Christmas holiday."
"The final target of the attack was not known, but extremist members had allegedly discussed restaurants and night clubs located in New York City," the FBI's assistant legal attache in London wrote December 4th, 2009, according to Fox.
However, the FBI says it was "not aware of anything" to suggest the threat was credible, saying, "there may have been something to it, but it didn't happen," Fox reported.
That same Christmas Day, a Nigerian man was caught allegedly trying to set off explosives hidden in his underwear on a Northwest airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
The foiled bombing triggered global alarm, leading the United States to adopt stringent new screening and security measures at airports around the world.
{{/usCountry}}The foiled bombing triggered global alarm, leading the United States to adopt stringent new screening and security measures at airports around the world.
{{/usCountry}}Fox News quoted an unnamed security official saying that it was possible the Detroit plot could have been ordered instead of the one reportedly planned for New York.
"People don't just drop it and leave, especially not these organisations," the official said. "They go look for another way to do it."
But FBI officials told the news channel that there was no evidence of a link between the feared New York plot - which they said was no more than "unsubstantiated, uncorroborated information" - and the alleged Detroit attack.