Washington: Two men arrested in a mosque in Albany, New York, were allegedly involved in buying a shoulder-fired missile and a plot to kill the Pakistani envoy in New York consulate "to retaliate against the leadership of Pakistan for helping the US in the war on terror".

Imam of the mosque Yassin Aref, 34 and Mohammed Hossain, 49, one of the mosque's founders, were arrested by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in a sting operation with the help of a third person who was cooperating with the Government, Deputy Attorney General James Comey said at a special press conference in Washington today.

Both arrested men face up to 70 years in prison and a $750,000 fine, Comey said.

"Today's charges represent our commitment to infiltrate and expose those who seek to do us harm or to facilitate those who seek to harm our homeland. It is our hope that today's arrests will give pause to anyone considering terrorist activity and cause them to question whether their accomplice is not really one of our agents in the field."

Among the charges were allegations of money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to conceal material support for terrorism.

The person who had been cooperating in the sting operation, Comey said that he had been in trouble with the law and through his cooperation was hoping to have his sentence reduced.

The shoulder-fired man-portable missile sold to them as a Chinese weapon was actually an American missile, which had been rendered inert and harmless.

Both men allegedly had a connection to Ansar al-Islam, which is active in Iraq.

Comey emphasised that these arrests have nothing to do with the plot announced Sunday to hit the World Bank and IMF in Washington financial institutions in New York and New Jersey.

Mohammed Hossain was said to be a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin and Arif an Iraqi.