WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW YORK - A law enforcement official says the high-ranking U.S. government official who was allegedly considered for assassination during a terrorism plot has been identified as President Barack Obama.

The official stresses that the suspect never got beyond the discussion stage.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation and talked to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Authorities have said the Bangladeshi man snared in an FBI terror sting also considered targeting the New York Stock Exchange before picking one of New York City's most fortified sites: The Federal Reserve.

Quazi Nafis was arrested Wednesday after a sting operation. Authorities say he parked a van filled with what he believed were explosives outside the building and tried to detonate it.