U.S.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says seven terror suspects in Miami plotted to carry out large-scale terror attacks in the United States.
Gonzales told a news conference in Washington Friday that the seven who were arrested in raids in Miami are charged with conspiring to support al-Qaida by planning attacks on numerous targets.
He said they wanted to carry out attacks equal to or greater than the scale of the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
He said the targets included the Sears tower in Chicago and an FBI building in Miami and other area government buildings. But he said the men were unable to get past the initial planning phase of the attacks
The indictment says one of the suspects, Narseal Batiste, told an al-Qaida representative in 2005 that he was organizing a mission to build an Islamic army to wage jihad.
Gonzales said one suspect is an illegal Haitian immigrant, another is a permanent resident, while the five others are Americans.
The attorney general said the people he described as "home-grown" terrorists had pledged their allegiance to al-Qaida, mistaking an undercover security agent as a member of the terror organization.
A man who said he was a member of the group that the suspects belonged to told CNN television that the seven are not terrorists. He said their group is called the "Seas of David" and has so-called "soldiers" in Chicago.
The arrests come as thousands are in Miami for a victory parade for the Miami Heat, the new National Basketball Association champion. The celebrations are to continue Friday as scheduled.
Several al-Qaida terrorists who carried out the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks had lived and trained in the South Florida area.