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by Jay Levine
CHICAGO (CBS) ― New information about the alleged terror plot against the Sears Tower emerged Thursday at a hearing for one of the seven men arrested last week.

Prosecutors talked about a plan to take down the Sears Tower with dynamite. CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports on how they planned to gain access to the Chicago landmark.

On Thursday, it was revealed the Sears Tower was the centerpiece of the plot to kick-off a holy war by setting off dynamite in tunnels beneath the 110-story skyscraper.

The alleged ringleader, Narseal Batiste, had told an FBI informant that his contacts from a delivery job he once held were going to help his group use tunnels under Chicago to stage an attack, prosecutors said.

Batiste, the former Chicagoan and delivery man, was undoubtedly familiar with the subterranean passages off Lower Wacker Drive leading to the building's lower levels and perhaps the network of tunnels beneath the city -- the ones flooded by the Chicago River years ago.

The revelations came from an Atlanta courtroom Thursday where Batiste's alleged accomplice, Lyglenson Lemorin, had a preliminary hearing.

"There was this guy, Batiste, and the so-called FBI informant; that was 99 percent of what they presented," said defense attorney Jim Hardy.

Accused accomplice Lemorin listened as prosecutors presented evidence obtained by an FBI agent posing as a member of al Qaeda.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Getchell said Batiste was asking for help with his plan to take down Sears Tower with an attack through the tunnel system using dynamite and that former co-workers in Chicago would help him.

Getchell also claimed Batiste told the agent that the group, whose headquarters was in the Miami warehouse raided last week, also had members in Chicago.

FBI officials here won't talk about that claim, except to say they were aware of the initial investigation and that their "investigation is still ongoing." No one has been arrested or charged in Chicago.

Also on Thursday, an attorney for another member of the group claimed not everyone wanted in.

"Some of them didn't want anything to do with it," defense attorney Jim Hardy said.

In fact, just over a month before the raid on the group's warehouse headquarters, an argument there led to gunfire and the arrest of a Chicagoan who split with batiste's group.

Charles Stewart suspected law enforcement surveillance. He started shooting at other members. After his arrest, he told the feds about the plot.

Whether the plan involved the underground freight tunnels 40 feet below the downtown area or the underground entrances to Sears Tower itself isn't clear.

Batiste may have had the desire, but certainly not the means to attack Sears Tower. That's what he apparently wanted from al Qaeda.

Investigators are now trying to determine whether he actually had people here waiting to help him or was just trying to impress an agent he thought represented Osama bin Laden.

Lemorin, a Haitian national, also admitted to attending military training in Miami and other parts of Florida to carry out the mission, Getchell said.

Lemorin is one of seven men suspected in the terror plot who were arrested last week on conspiracy charges at the group's alleged hideout in a Miami warehouse. He was ordered held without bond Thursday and transferred to Miami to stand trial.

The indictment against the men alleges Batiste planned an attack he said would be "as good or greater than 9/11," although authorities say his group had no explosives and lacked adequate funding.

Batiste allegedly told the FBI undercover agent he had about 100 "soldiers" in Florida, Chicago and other parts of the U.S, as well as land he wanted to use as a training camp in Louisiana.

Security at Sears Tower remains tight, as it's been since Sept. 11. A spokesman says all delivery vehicles are "checked for explosive residue before they pass the security barricades" and that sears is not connected to the underground freight tunnels.

Those tunnels, a city spokesman says, are sealed tight. There is electronic surveillance, regular inspections, and no one goes down without a background check and an official city escort.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)