Officials increasingly see international plot in Times Square bomb attempt

[darrels joy]

Officials increasingly see international plot in Times Square bomb attempt

By Spencer S. Hsu, Anne E. Kornblut And Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 3, 2010; 2:46 PM



The failed car bombing in Times Square increasingly appears to have been coordinated by several people in a plot with international links, Obama administration officials said Tuesday.

The disclosure, while tentative, came as the White House intensified its focus on the Saturday incident in New York City, in which explosives inside a Nissan Pathfinder were set ablaze but failed to detonate at the tourist-crowded corner of Broadway and 45th Street.

Emerging from a series of briefings, several officials said it was premature to rule out any motive but said the sweeping, multi-state investigation was turning up new clues.

Separately, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also characterized the incident for the first time as an attempted act of terrorism. "I would say that was intended to terrorize, and I would say that whomever did that would be categorized as a terrorist," Gibbs said, sharpening the administration's tone.

Another U.S. official, recounting a conversation with intelligence officials, said, "Don't be surprised if you find a foreign nexus. . . . They're looking at some tell-tale signs and they're saying it's pointing in that direction."

Officials cautioned that even if the investigation points toward an international link, rather than domestic or anti-government groups, that does not mean al-Qaeda or another terrorist organization is necessarily involved.

The emerging picture came as police and federal investigators searched for a man in his 40s whom surveillance cameras caught changing his shirt in an alley and looking over his shoulder near where the car was parked about 6:30 p.m., and another person seen running north on Broadway from the area. New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly also said detectives had spoken with the registered owner of the car but revealed no details other than that the man was not a suspect.

Police said the bomb would have created a fireball that likely would have killed or wounded many people, making it the most serious bombing attempt in the United States since the Christmas Day incident aboard a commercial flight bound for Detroit. The investigation has focused on whether an organized group or a determined individual was responsible.

The Taliban in Pakistan claimed responsibility in a video posted on YouTube, but Kelly and federal investigators said Sunday that no evidence had surfaced linking the group to the bomb.

On Sunday night, a second video was posted by apparent representatives of the Taliban, showing the group's commander, Hakimullah Mehsud, promising to launch attacks in the United States.

Mehsud, who U.S. and Pakistan authorities initially believed was killed in January drone strike, was recorded saying, "The time is very near when our fedayeen will attack the American states in their major cities . . . in some days or a month's time."

The video is marked with the logo of the TTP official media wing, Umar Studios, and appears to be credible, according to Evan F. Kohlmann, a terrorism consultant at Flashpoint Partners.

The bomb found in the Pathfinder was "a sober reminder that New York is a target for people who want to come here and do us harm," Kelly said Sunday. He said the device would have sent up a fireball from the center of a popular and bustling tourist landmark known to have symbolic importance for militant groups at war with the United States.

In the rear of the SUV, police found a makeshift bomb made up of three tanks of propane similar to those used in backyard barbecues; two jugs of gasoline; dozens of M-88 firecrackers, which are legal for purchase in some states, and metal gun case holding 100 pounds of fertilizer that police said was incapable of exploding.

In a statement, police said the explosives were "certainly capable of producing human casualties and broken windows but not enough to take down a structure," according to NYPD bomb squad experts.

A federal law enforcement official who is an expert on explosives noted that the propane tanks had not been twisted open, meaning that it would have taken longer for the fire in the car to heat up to the degree needed to ignite the fuel. Still, New York police investigators said the car bomb would have torn the car apart and caused "sizable" deaths and injuries if it had detonated.

Kelly said the firecrackers were apparently intended as the triggering mechanism. Investigators were also studying alarm clocks and batteries that appeared to be part of the device.

Investigators pored over hundreds of hours of surveillance video to pinpoint potential evidence or suspects, including the man, carrying a backpack, who can be seen changing his shirt. Based on the video footage, police think the Pathfinder entered the area at 6:28 p.m. and was discovered by vendors within minutes .

Police identified the owner of the Pathfinder but did not release his name.

"Obviously, it wasn't an accident," Kelly said. "It was somebody who brought this to the location to send a message, to terrorize people in the area."

Fingerprints and a vehicle identification number were recovered, officials said. The license plate had apparently been taken from another vehicle; it was traced to a Connecticut auto shop, whose owner is not under suspicion.

The White House said President Obama was closely monitoring the investigation as he toured the Gulf Coast to assess the threat posed by the widening oil spill. Administration officials said Obama was notified of the incident Saturday evening as he attended the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, soon after the vehicle was discovered.

"We're going to do what's necessary to protect the American people, to determine who is behind this potentially deadly act, and to see that justice is done," Obama told reporters in Venice, La., on Sunday.

The warning triggered a police response that Obama praised for its speed and efficiency.

The search for suspects extended to airports. Transportation Security Administration officials began additional screening Sunday of passengers boarding domestic and international flights from the Boston, New York and Philadelphia areas. The measure was likened to draping a secure "perimeter" around areas within easy driving distance of potential suspect or suspects fleeing New York, another U.S. official said.

The TSA earlier Sunday stepped up security at airports along the East Coast.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, a private firm that tracks extremist Web sites, the YouTube video claiming responsibility for the attempted bombing was released by the Taliban in Pakistan. The clip included English subtitles and audio purportedly voiced by Qari Hussein Mehsud, whom officials describe as the organizer of the group's suicide-bomb squad.

SITE said the video states that the attack was retribution for the recent killing of two al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq and for U.S. military actions in Pakistan, particularly the assassinations conducted by U.S. drone aircraft.

Terrorism analysts cautioned that the group might be asserting responsibility for propaganda value.

"Over the past week or so, every faction, from al-Shabaab in Somalia on down the list, has issued statements mourning the deaths of these guys in Iraq, saying, 'We're going to avenge them, vengeance is coming,' " said Kohlmann, the consultant who tracks terror groups.

Officials noted that the attempted car bombing took place about one block from the headquarters of Viacom, which owns the Comedy Central cable channel. Last month, the channel's animated program "South Park" received threats from Islamist groups after an episode that portrayed the prophet Muhammad in a satiric light.

Staff writers Colum Lynch and Tomoeh Murakami Tse in New York, Anne E. Kornblut aboard Air Force One, and Jerry Markon, Greg Miller, Sandhya Somashekhar, Joby Warrick, and Josh White and staff researcher Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

[darrels joy]

Authorities Have Identified Person of Interest in Times Square Bomb Attempt

Investigation Pointing to Coordinated Effort, Foreign Links in Foiled Times Square Attack

By RICHARD ESPOSITO, PIERRE THOMAS and BRIAN ROSS

May 3, 2010—


Federal authorities are closing in on the man they say is a person of interest in the Times Square car bomb attempt this weekend, who is described as a naturalized American citizen who hails from Pakistan and just returned after spending five months there.

There is growing evidence the bomber did not act alone and had ties to radical elements overseas, with one senior official telling ABC News there are several individuals believed to be connected with the bombing and that at least one of them is a Pakistani-American.

Attorney General Eric Holder said today the investigators had made "substantial progress" in tracking the man who drove a Nissan Pathfinder into New York's Times Square with a crude bomb that failed to detonate.

Officials declined to provide the specifics that led them to believe there were overseas links to a larger plot.

Authorities said another clue in the investigation is a video posted online early Sunday morning by persons in Connecticut, who may have been involved in the bomb attempt and are being sought by law enforcement.

The video, posted on a site registered one day before the attack, has the Taliban in Pakistan claiming responsibility for the attempted bombing.

The Washington Post, quoting Obama Administration sources, said the attempted bombing "increasingly appears to have been coordinated by several people in a plot with international links."

Other law enforcement officials said the investigation was closing in on the driver of the vehicle and an unknown number of others connected to him.

"This is moving very fast because they left behind a treasure trove of evidence in the unexploded car," one US official told ABC News.

Officials told ABC News Senior Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas that the Connecticut owner of the vehicle told them he had sold the Nissan SUV last month in an unrecorded sale to an "Arabic or Latino looking man" in his 20's or 30's, for a few hundred dollars in cash.




The license plate on the car was apparently stolen from an auto repair shop outside Bridgeport, Connecticut, according to law enforcement officials.

The authorities told ABC News that the previous owner provided a description of the man who bought the car, and told investigators the vehicle was sold for several hundred dollars in cash, with no written records identifying the purchaser.

The license plate found on the Pathfinder also came from Connecticut, #98CY09, according to photographs of the vehicle.

Times Square Bomb



Authorities tell ABC News that the plate came from a vehicle that was in a repair shop near Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Meantime, police are now engaged in an urgent manhunt for a man caught on tape near the SUV, loaded with propane, fireworks, fertilizer and timing devices.

Though a Taliban leader thought killed in a U.S. drone strike has now resurfaced in a video threatening attacks on U.S. cities, and the Taliban has claimed credit for the failed New York attack, U.S. authorities are skeptical.

According to police, surveillance shots from a half block away from the site of the Saturday incident may give clues to the person responsible.

The New York City Police Department has released video showing a white male in his 40s looking back in the direction of West 45th street. He can also be seen in the video shedding a dark-colored shirt, revealing a red one underneath.

On Good Morning America, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was cautious in his description of the man on the surveillance tape, calling him "a person of interest."

Bloomberg expressed confidence that whoever was responsible for the failed attack would be caught. "There's a high probability we will find out who did this," said Bloomberg. "There's a lot of evidence."

The would-be bomber packed the car with more than 100 pounds of fertilizer, but not the kind that would explode, police said.

Had the bomber chosen the right kind of fertilizer, the bomb would have had the force of more than 100 pounds of TNT. But instead of ammonium nitrate, the kind of fertilizer used by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the bomber used a harmless fertilizer, New York City Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.


A surveillance camera captured an image of the car crossing Broadway through pre-theater crowds just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The car was left on W. 45th Street with its lights flashing and engine running.

The surrounding area was evacuated after street vendor Duane Jackson saw smoke coming from the Pathfinder and alerted police. Jackson, who has been working in Times Square for 13 years, said he is always on alert in the crowded public space, and in touch with police. "Vigilance is the key," said Jackson. "Keep your wits about you [and] don't take anything for granted."

Police moved back thousands of theatergoers and tourists as the bomb squad moved in.

Technicians blew open the back doors and trunk and found the car packed with propane canisters and gasoline containers.

"Clearly it was the intent of whoever did this to cause mayhem," said New York police commissioner Ray Kelly.

But the detonator, alarm clocks hooked up to fire crackers, failed to work.

"They would not have been able to have stopped the bomb if it had been wired properly," said former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, now an ABC News consultant. "Someone was able to drive into New York with what looks like bomb parts, drive right into the heart of Times Square, pull up on the sidewalk, jump up and run away and not get caught."

The bomb bore similarities to two Al Qaeda-connected attacks on a London nightclub and an airport in Scotland in 2007. Three vehicles used in the attempted bombings contained propane gas tanks.

Al Qaeda has posted videos showing how to construct a bomb using propane tanks and gasoline.

On Sunday night, the Taliban released a video featuring Hakimullah Mehsud, who U.S. and Pakistani authorities had thought was killed in a drone strike in January.

On the recording Mehsud can be heard saying, "The time is very near when our fedayeen will attack the American states in their major cities."

He also claims that Taliban fedayeen "have penetrated the terrorist America, we will give extremely painful blows to the fanatic America."

Mehsud's video was recorded April 4, and Mehsud threatens attacks in the days and weeks to come.

Earlier, in the hours after the failed Times Square bombing, a Taliban group in Pakistan claimed responsibility for what it called a "jaw-breaking blow to Satan's USA.

But U.S. officials expressed doubt about a Taliban connection.

Mayor Bloomberg said that so far there was "no legitimate evidence" the Taliban or al Qaeda were involved. "There's one group of the Taliban that claims credit for everything, including traffic jams," said Bloomberg.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano noted on Good Mormng America that there is a history of groups trying to claim credit for attacks.

But she did not rule out any groups. "What we have is a real attempt at an attack," said Napolitano. "Law enforcement is pursuing leads."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/times-...ry?id=10534834

[revwardoc]

http://wbztv.com/national/times.squa...2.1673168.html

Faisal Shahzad, Naturalized American Citizen From Pakistan, Picked Up At Airport Trying To Leave Country

A naturalized American citizen of Pakistani descent has been arrested at New York's JFK International Airport in connection to last weekend's failed car bomb attack on Times Square.

Attorney General Eric Holder identified the suspect Faisal Shahzad, a U.S. citizen. He's being held in New York.

CBS News sources say Shahzad is a resident of Sheldon, Conn. The New York Times says he is 30 years old. His Connecticut apartment was still being searched by law enforcement agents early Tuesday morning.

He was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement officers at JFK as he attempted to flee the country. The jet had already pushed back from the gate and was forced to return, a law enforcement source tells CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Investigators believe Shahzad was travelling alone, reports Orr. They questioned a number of people on the jet and all of the passengers and bags were rescreened. The Emirates Airlines jet on which Shahzad was arrested in New York was still on the tarmac Tuesday morning.

Officials say Shahzad recently returned from a trip to Pakistan and bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder used in the failed car bomb three weeks ago for less than $2,000 in cash.

The law enforcement official told Orr that Shahzad has some known connections in Pakistan, but the nature of those connections - whether they are family, friends or individuals associated with any of the Asian nation's terrorist groups - was still unclear.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told CBS News President Obama learned of the arrest of the New York bomb suspect early Tuesday morning. Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser, notified him at 12:05 a.m. Tuesday of the arrest of the suspect.

The SUV was rigged with a crude propane-and-gasoline bomb. It had cheap-looking alarm clocks connected to a 16-ounce can filled with fireworks. The contraption has been described as amateur by many explosives experts.

CBS News has learned that a weapon was found in the SUV, aside from the explosives, but it isn't yet clear what sort of weapon it was.

"It's clear that the intent behind this terrorist attack was to kill Americans," Holder said at an early morning news conference from the Department of Justice.

Holder described the investigation as "ongoing, multifaceted and aggressive," suggesting it was "important that the American people remain vigilant" but giving no clear indication as to whether Shahzad may have had accomplices inside or outside of the United States.

The Attorney General said the investigation was drawing on "every resource available, and we will not rest until we have brought everyone responsible to justice."

According to Orr's source, the FBI and New York police "were on to this guy early." The break in the case apparently came from the communications surrounding the sale of the SUV.

The source tells CBS News Shahzad was thought to have been at his apartment in Connecticut Monday night when details began leaking in the media that the FBI was looking for a Pakistani American. This apparently unnerved him and prompted him to try and run.

At least two videos have surfaced with apparent leaders of the Pakistani Taliban claiming responsibility for the attempted bombing. Those claims were initially dismissed but a Pakistani government official tells CBS News' Farhan Bokhari that U.S. intelligence officials have been in contact with their Pakistani counterparts as part of the ongoing investigation.

Holder said Shahzad was attempting to fly to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from JFK when he was taken into custody. An Obama administration official tells CBS News he was then booked to fly on to Pakistan from Dubai.

Officials stress they have found no definitive link to al Qaeda or any terrorist group, but the White House on Monday called the attempted attack a clear act of terrorism, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

"I think anybody that has the type of material that they had in a car in Times Square, I would say that that was intended to terrorize, absolutely," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Shahzad was brought to FBI headquarters for processing and was to be housed at a New York metropolitan corrections facility ahead of expected arraignment in Manhattan federal court later Tuesday.

The car's last registered owner was questioned Sunday by investigators, and said he sold the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder to a man he did not know three weeks ago to a stranger, one official said.

Officials say the owner, whose name has not been released, is not considered a suspect in the bomb scare. But the revelation of the sale led authorities one step closer to whomever was aiming for mass carnage on a busy Saturday night in the heart of Times Square and achieved only streets emptied for hours of thousands of tourists.

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne confirmed Monday that investigators had spoken to the registered owner.

The vehicle identification number had been removed from Pathfinder's dashboard, but it was stamped on the engine, and investigators used it to find the owner on record.

"The discovery of the VIN on the engine block was pivotal in that it led to identifying the registered owner," Browne said. "It continues to pay dividends."

Investigators tracked the license plates to a used auto parts shop in Stratford, Conn., where they discovered the plates were connected to a different vehicle.

They also spoke to the owner of an auto sales shop in nearby Bridgeport because a sticker on the Pathfinder indicated the SUV had been sold by his dealership. Owner Tom Manis said there was no match between the identification number the officers showed him and any vehicle he sold.

[darrels joy]

FBI arrests Pakistani-American sought in failed Times Square car bombing

By Bill RoggioMay 4, 2010 12:22 AM

The FBI has detained a Pakistani-American suspect who was wanted for his involvement in the failed May 2 car bomb attack at Times Square in New York City.

Authorities arrested Shahzad Faisal on Long Island on Monday night after discovering he was behind the purchase of the SUV used in the Times Square attack. Shahzad was detained at JFK Airport while attempting to leave the US, the Associated Press reported.

Faisal is a naturalized American citizen who is originally from Pakistan. He recently returned from Pakistan after spending five months there. While the exact movements of Faisal are not yet known, US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal believe he spent time in al Qaeda or Taliban training camps in North Waziristan.

"North Waziristan is the heart of al Qaeda's external operations network," an intelligence official said. Previous al Qaeda plots, such as the attempted suicide attacks in New York's subway system in September 2009 by Najibullah Zazi and his accomplices, were hatched in North Waziristan. Zazi, an Afghan citizen, traveled to North Waziristan for more than three-and-a-half months of training.

Faisal reportedly purchased the dark Nissan Pathfinder from an unidentified woman in Connecticut several weeks ago, using cash. The Pathfinder was found smoldering at Times Square on the evening of May 1. The Pathfinder was packed with three propane tanks, two five-gallon containers of gasoline, fireworks, and bags of fertilizer. The bomb appears to have been a crude fuel-air explosive device that was to be triggered by fireworks ignited by a timing device.

Information gathered from the upload of the videotape of Qari Hussain Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban master trainer of suicide bombers, may have pointed to Faisal, as the video was uploaded from Connecticut, according to ABC News. On the video, Qari Hussain lauded the bombing, which he characterized as successful, and said further attacks against the US would follow.

The YouTube website that hosted the video was created by a group calling itself the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan News Channel. The website was created one day before the failed attack, and the video was also uploaded one day before the attack, The Long War Journal first reported on May 2.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal on May 2 believed the YouTube site was created specifically to announce the Times Square attack. Officials also said Qari Hussain’s statement was pre-recorded well before the failed Times Square attack.

The Pakistani Taliban followed up Qari Hussain's statement by releasing two tapes of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was reported killed in a US airstrike in North Waziristan in January 2010. The tapes were also uploaded onto YouTube by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan News Channel. The audio and video tapes, which were recorded in early and mid-April, are the first proof since Jan. 16 that Hakeemullah is alive. On the tapes, Hakeemullah also threatened to carry out attacks against the US and said the strikes would happen soon.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has close links to al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and the multitude of Pakistani jihadist groups. The Pakistani Taliban has focused its efforts on battling the Pakistani state as well as attacking Coalition forces in Afghanistan. In early January, Hakeemullah was seen on a videotape with the suicide bomber who carried out the attack on a CIA outpost in Khost, Afghanistan, on Dec. 30, 2009.

Seven CIA operatives and bodyguards and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed in the attack.

In the most recent tapes, both Hakeemullah and Qari Hussain said that the Taliban seeks to strike at the US for carrying out Predator strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas, as well as for the US presence in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both Taliban leaders also said the failed Times Square bombing sought to avenge the deaths of al Qaeda in Iraq's top two leaders, Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al Baghdad; Baitullah Mehsud, who was Hakeemullah's predecessor; and other senior terror leaders.




Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/05/fbi_arrests_pakistan.php#ixzz0myBUPRf5

[darrels joy]

Source: Up To 8 Probed Over NYC Bomb In Pakistan

Authorities Questioning Multiple People In Connection To Times Square Bombing

Pakistani Faisal Shahzad Of Shelton, Conn. Was Arrested At John F. Kennedy Airport After Trying To Flee To Dubai

NEW YORK (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 2

Photo from social networking site Orkut.com showing man identified by neighbors in Connecticut on May 4, 2010 as Faisal Shahzad, alleged Times Square bomb suspect. AP

Click to enlarge 2 of 2

A member of the police department points to a surveillance image of a dark SUV, which is said to be the vehicle with a bomb that was discovered before it could be detonated in Times Square on May 2, 2010, in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Sources tell CBS News that multiple people have been taken into custody for questioning in Pakistan in connection with the Times Square bomb plot.

Authorities are not saying who the potential suspects are or where they are being held, but they say there were raids Monday night and Tuesday morning in different locations. It's believed between four and eight people are being held, and there are reports that some of them may be related to the suspect arrested overnight in New York.

The Associated Press said that Pakistani authorities have detained at least one man in connection with the Times Square bombing attempt in New York, two intelligence officials said Tuesday.

The man, identified as Tauseef, was a friend of Faisal Shahzad, the American of Pakistani origin who is in custody in the United States over the failed attack, one official said. He was arrested in the southern city of Karachi, said the official, who like all Pakistani spies refuses to be named in the media.

Another official said several people had been taken into custody in Karachi since the failed attack Saturday.

Neither said when the detentions had taken place. They said no charges had been filed.

Shahzad was arrested in New York on Monday as he was about to board a flight to Dubai.

U.S. officials have said the 30-year-old had recently returned from Pakistan, raising speculation he may have been in contact with al-Qaida or Taliban groups in the South Asian country.

The development comes the man accused of driving the bomb-laden SUV into Times Square was arrested on board a flight set to leave a New York airport for Dubai.

Faisal Shahzad was taken into custody aboard the flight at Kennedy International Airport. An official said investigators still didn't have evidence that Shahzad was connected to the Pakistani Taliban or any foreign terror groups, and that "He's claimed to have acted alone, but these are things that have to be investigated."

Shahzad, of Shelton, Conn., is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan. York. Law enforcement officials said he recently returned from a trip to Pakistan and that he bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder used in the failed car bomb three weeks ago with cash.

Federal investigators at Shahzad's home Wednesday removed a fireworks box among other evidence at the property in Bridgeport, Conn.

The box is labeled "Silver Salutes." Those fireworks are similar to the M88s authorities say were found among containers of gasoline and other materials left in an SUV meant to explode in New York City on Saturday night.

Shahzad's neighbors in Bridgeport say federal agents arrived late Monday to his triple-decker with the name "F Shahzad" on the mailbox.

The road was blocked Tuesday as agents in white protective suits removed and examined items from the home, including the fireworks box, which was being marked as evidence.

Investigators found that the SUV found at Times Square was rigged with a crude propane-and-gasoline bomb. It had cheap-looking alarm clocks connected to a 16-ounce can filled with fireworks.

Justice officials said the VIN, or identification number, of the abandoned vehicle played a crucial role in leading them to Shazad. It had been removed from the Pathfinder's dashboard, but was stamped on the engine, and investigators used it to find the owner on record.

"The discovery of the VIN on the engine block was pivotal in that it led to the identifying the registered owner," said Paul Browne, chief New York Police Department spokesman. "It continues to pay dividends."

Officials said the owner, whose name has not been released, was not considered a suspect in the bomb scare, and Holder said the terror case was far from closed. "This investigation is ongoing, as is our attempt to gather useful intelligence and we continue to pursue a number of leads," he said.

Investigators said the SUV was crudely rigged with propane tanks, gasoline, firecrackers, ordinary alarm clocks, and a rat's nest of connecting wires, all designed to set off a deadly explosion at the height of the weekend Broadway dinner rush.

Police said the bomb could have produced "a significant fireball" and sprayed shrapnel with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows. The SUV was parked on a street lined with restaurants and Broadway theaters, including one showing "The Lion King," and full of people out on a Saturday night.

"It is clear that the intent of this terrorist act was to kill Americans," Holder said.

The investigation into the botched car bombing started to pick up speed Monday, as law enforcement closed in on the suspect.

And a few crucial clues pointed to an international connection.

While investigators didn't reveal the name of the person they were targeting at the time, they said they knew whom they were looking for.

Authorities began to zero in on the possible suspect in the botched bombing, and said forensic evidence found in the Times Square SUV led them to the Middle Eastern man's name that's familiar to counter terrorism investigators.

Congressman Peter King said he was not surprised given what law enforcement sources were telling him.

"The question is is he working with people over seas or is there just a connection to overseas?" said Rep. King, R-Long Island. "It's definite that the authorities believe that there is an overseas involvement, generally a potential overseas involvement, and it involves the Middle East."

Investigators have been working on the theory this person of interest purchased the SUV a few weeks ago in Connecticut, for $1,300 in an all-cash deal where no paperwork exchanged. The seller described the buyer as a young man of Middle Eastern or Hispanic descent, but police weren't shedding light on this aspect of the investigation.

"This is obviously a disappointment, but I'm not in the position to talk about the specifics in that regard," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

Authorities have been examining phone calls and emails -- the communication around the purchase of the SUV -- and have discovered the buyer has had some contacts overseas. They spent part of Monday reviewing his travel history.

Investigators had said there was no direct link to al Qaeda or any terrorist group.

However, "I think there's no question that the people, person who was behind that act intended to spread terror," Holder said.

The developments led police to lose some interest in the identity of the man seen on surveillance video changing his shirt in an alley a half block away from where the suspicious SUV was parked.

"Now he may or may not have been involved in this incident. It was a hot day. Maybe he was just changing his shirt," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

On Monday night investigators were pouring through hours of surveillance tape captured by the dozens of cameras stationed in Times Square. That plus the forensic material found in the SUV, and the information from its recent sale had authorities confident. "You'd have to say the odds are pretty good that they're going to find who did this," Sen. Charles Schumer said.

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/times.s...2.1673810.html

[darrels joy]

An Islamic terrorist named Faisal Shahzad is the Time Square bomber according to media

An Islamic terrorist named Faisal Shahzad is the Time Square bomber according to media reports. He is Muslim of Pakistani heritage with dual citizenship in the United States, recently naturalized as a U.S. citizen under the Obama administration’s lenient open door policy. We are still attempting to confirm his registration status as a Democrat.


Shahzad Faisal as identified by NBC News, or Faisal Shahzad as identified by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, is a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin.

He was arrested at JFK airport in New York trying to flee the country back to Pakistan via a connector flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on flight UAE 202. He was taken off the airplane sitting on the runway, promptly read his Miranda rights, and presumably went silent.

Obama’s policy of treating enemy combatants as common criminals has been much criticized outside of liberal intelligentsia. At least they got their man, but the free lawyers that us taxpayers are giving him will assure very little intelligence is gathered in this case.

The Obama Justice department has caused furor within law enforcement circles for being soft on terror. The method of apprehending this terrorist will simply increase the volume and scrutiny. The public asks why are terrorists getting arrested for criminal prosecution rather than detained and shipped to Guantanamo for military tribunals. Despite bad PR generated by liberal college professors and their allies, detaining terrorists in Guantanamo was one of the good ideas by the Bush Administration for U.S. security interests.

Faisal Shahzad was naturalized April 17th 2009, one of the early beneficiary of Obama’s liberal immigration policy that threw open the borders to treat all countries of origin alike. Two months later he was back in Pakistan, presumably meeting and plotting with terrorist allies there.

The slow motion war by Islamic fundamentalists marches on, unrecognized by the American political establishment, either through gross incompetence or pacification of radical voting groups for political expediency. Our leaders seem deaf and dumb to the threat against American interests and freedom.

Faisal Shahzad is a typical example if the charges are true, one of many who have attempted to cause terror among the populace, by lighting shoe bombs, underwear bombs, or blowing up cars in crowded urban centers. The current administration seems largely indifferent to the threat.

Faisal Shahzad had apparently been placed on the do-not-fly list earlier in the day, so a match was made against his passport when he tried to board an international airplane flight. This is a good win for the department of homeland security. We’ll leave the incompetence at preventing the attack for others to analyze.

Leads were easy in this case. A naive attempt was made to cover up the vehicle identification number on the Nissan Pathfinder loaded with explosives, by removing it from the inside door panel, but the number was left on the engine block. In addition, the purchase was made via CraigsList which left an electronic trail.

This is clearly a developing story for which more information will be forthcoming. We are still researching to understand if Faisal Shahzad was an Obama campaign donor. The Muslim community in the U.S. overwhelmingly supported the president’s 2008 election run. Stay tuned.

http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=6169

[darrels joy]

Sources: Shahzad Had Contact With Awlaki, Taliban Chief, and Mumbai Massacre Mastermind

Faisal Shahzad Said To Have Linked Up With Taliban Through Internet, But Already High-Placed Contacts

By RICHARD ESPOSITO, CHRIS VLASTO and CHRIS CUOMO

May 6, 2010 —

Accused Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad linked up with the Pakistani Taliban through the internet, ABC News has been told by law enforcement and intelligence sources close to the investigation. Once the Taliban identified him as more valuable in the U.S. than in Pakistan, they trained him to return to execute his bomb attack.

But according to these sources, Shahzad also had a web of jihadist contacts that included big names tied to terror attacks in the U.S. and abroad, including the figure who has emerged as a central figure in many recent domestic terror attempts - radical American-born Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki.

Besides Awlaki, sources say Shahzad was also linked to a key figure in the Pakistani Taliban, its Emir Beitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a drone missile strike in 2009. The Mehsuds had been family friends of Shahzad, who is the son of a former high-ranking Pakistani military officer.

Sources told ABC News that Shahzad was childhood friends with one of the alleged masterminds of the Mumbai massacre of 2008, in which more than 170 people died.

Shahzad is also said to be linked to a man named Muhammed Rehan, whom Pakistani authorities reportedly have in custody. Sources said Rehan helped Shahzad travel to Peshawar and then to Waziristan and made introductions to the Taliban.

According to a person briefed on the FBI interrogation, Shahzad has told federal agents that he was angry at the CIA missile strikes carried out in Pakistan and suffered a personal crisis in his life. He has reportedly said he carried out the attempted bombing because he was under duress and that he feared for his family's safety if he didn't fulfill the mission.

Shahzad has admitted to receiving bomb-making training and to loading a car with explosives and driving it into Times Square, say U.S. authorities, and is providing valuable information that is helping officials round up possible accomplices.
Failed Times Square Car Bomb Attempt

Seven men have been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the failed car bombing, including two in Karachi and five in Punjab Province. Shahzad's faither-in-law has also been detained, and Shahzad's father, wife and children may be in protective custody.

Shahzad, whose father was a high-ranking officer in the Pakistani Air Force, moved to the United States in 1998. Married with two daughters, he worked as a financial analyst and lived in Connecticut.

In 2009, Shahzad's life began unraveling. He had been working as a junior financial analyst in the Stamford, Connecticut office of the Affinion Group, an international marketing firm, But in May he left his job, abandoned his $200,000 home to foreclosure and returned to Pakistan.

Federal officials alleged that while in Pakistan he learned bomb-making with the Taliban and received money for his plot.

Shahzad returned to the U.S. in February 2010.

After the attempted Times Square bombing, Shahzad, who had been the subject of a huge manhunt, almost made it out of the country on a Emirates flight to Dubai, with a planned connection onward to Pakistan, according to officials.

Authorities said that despite the manhunt, his passport had not been flagged and he was able to buy a ticket with cash and clear airport security.

FBI agents discovered Shahzad's car parked in a short-term lot at JFK airport Monday evening and searched for his name on airline passenger manifests.

The flight was about to depart with Shahzad aboard when FBI agents boarded and took Shahzad off.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/faisal...ry?id=10575061