PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP):

The leader of a radical Trinidadian Muslim group denied yesterday that his group had any connection to an alleged terrorist plot against New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Yasin Abu Bakr, the leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen, told The Associated Press that he knew "nothing" about the plot to blow up fuel tanks at the airport that allegedly involved a U.S. citizen, a former Guyanese politician and two men from Trinidad.

U.S. authorities claim the accused plotters travelled to Trinidad to seek support from Jamaat al Muslimeen, which staged a deadly coup attempt in the Caribbean nation in 1990. The men left without getting such support, according to court documents.

But the documents say that Abdel Nur, a suspect in the alleged plot who is still at large, met with Abu Bakr at his compound in Trinidad and the Islamic leader allegedly suggested that he return later with others involved "to discuss the plan in detail."

Abu Bakr denied the allegation. "I know nothing about these men and I have nothing to do with whatever they are being charged for," he said in his first public comments since U.S. authorities disclosed the plot on Saturday.

Two of the suspects are in custody in Trinidad and a third was being sought by authorities in the Caribbean country.

A fourth man, the U.S. citizen, was jailed in the United States.

"I know nothing about these matters," he said in a telephone interview.

Bakr's group, often accused of aiming to create an Islamic state in Trinidad, describes itself simply as a religious organisation. It is not known to have international reach a member was convicted of trying to smuggle 70 assault rifles to Trinidad from Florida in 2005.

Abu Bakr faces charges stemming from a 2005 sermon in which he called for war against rich Muslims who refuse to pay zakaat, an Islamic tithe used to alleviate poverty. The following week, he was arrested by police who razed the group's compound and charged him with sedition and incitement to violence.