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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Pak-born US citizen held in NY bomb case

* Plane taxiing away from JFK Airport stopped to make arrest
* Official says suspect claims to have acted alone
* Emirates airline says three passengers pulled from flight

NEW YORK: Law-enforcement officials claim the Pakistani-born US citizen suspected in the failed attempt to explode a bomb-laden car in Times Square attended a terror training camp in Pakistan.

Faisal Shahzad was arrested late on Monday aboard a flight that was headed to the Middle East for trying to blow up the sport utility vehicle on Saturday evening.

US authorities brought terrorism and weapons of mass destruction charges against him on Tuesday.

One Washington official said Tuesday that Shahzad told the FBI about his training. Attorney General Eric Holder said Shahzad had admitted his role in the attempted bombing and was providing valuable information to interrogators. He said the probe sought information on "overseas" terrorist groups.

A second official said the camp was in Waziristan, where the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan operates with near impunity.

The TTP group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but officials say there is no evidence to back that up.

Shahzad was on board a Dubai-bound flight that was taxiing away from the gate at Kennedy Airport when the plane was stopped and FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives took him into custody late on Monday. Emirates Airlines said three passengers were removed from the plane, but this was not immediately confirmed.

The White House said the US authorities were investigating whether Emirates airline made a mistake in letting Shahzad on one of its aircraft. "That's part of the investigation that we're looking at," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The US attorney's office in Manhattan was handling the case.

Shahzad comes from a wealthy family and is the son of a retired Pakistani air force officer, according to Kifayat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad's father.

Ali spoke with reporters outside a two-storey home in an upscale part of Peshawar. He said the family had yet to be officially informed of Shahzad's arrest in the US.

Shahzad, 30, had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he had a wife, law-enforcement officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

Shahzad became a naturalised US citizen last year shortly before travelling to Pakistan, said a federal law enforcement official in Washington.

Investigators had not established an immediate connection to the TTP or any foreign terrorist groups, a law enforcement official told the AP. "He's claimed to have acted alone, but these are things that have to be investigated," said the official.

"He's admitted to buying the truck, putting the devices together, putting them in the truck, leaving the truck there and leaving the scene," a law enforcement source told Reuters.

Another law-enforcement official said Shahzad was not known to the US intelligence community before the failed bombing attempt.

Law-enforcement officials say Shahzad bought the car from a Connecticut man about three weeks ago and paid cash. agencies

SOME FACTS ABOUT FAISAL SHAHZAD:

* Shahzad was born in June 1979 in Nowshera
* Visited Pakistan for about five months last year
* Became a naturalised US citizen last year
* Allegedly received militant training in Kohat
* Worked for about three years as a junior financial analyst in Affinion Group
* Left the company in June 2009
* Married with two children, family believed to be living in Pakistan
* JPMorgan Chase's mortgage unit sued Shahzad last year to foreclose on his home in Connecticut

Five suspects arrested in Pakistan

KARACHI: Law enforcement authorities in Pakistan on Tuesday detained at least five people allegedly linked to a Pakistani-American arrested in New York for an attempted car bombing at Times Square. Two of the suspects were arrested in Karachi, and are connected with suspect Faisal Shahzad through telephone records, a top security official told AFP. Investigations are under way to determine if they were the actual recipients of calls made from Shahzad's cell-phone or if other people had been using the same numbers, said the official.However, another security official said "we have picked up a few people" related to Shahzad. He said a friend of Shahzad, identified as Tauseef, had also been arrested. Intelligence officials said Shahzad's family were believed to have a home in Pabbi in northern Pakistan and another in Hayatabad. Sources told Daily Times that three suspects had also been arrested from Summandri in Faisalabad. agencies/ shahnawaz khan

FM assures US envoy of full cooperation

LAHORE: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan would fully cooperate with the US in investigating Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born US citizen arrested over the failed car bombing at Times Square, according to a private TV channel. The foreign minister made the comments at a meeting with US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson, who had called on him. A senior government official said, "Pakistan and the US already have robust counterterrorism cooperation ... if required, we will fully cooperate with the US." Interior Minister Rehman Malik also vowed that the Pakistani government would cooperate with the US in the identification and arrest of those accused. "We will cooperate with the US in identifying this individual and bringing him to justice," he said, referring to the detained man. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said Pakistan was awaiting details about Shahzad to be provided by the US.

Obama vows U.S. will not be intimidated

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has said an investigation into an attempted car bombing at Times Square would seek to determine if a suspect in the case had links to foreign extremist groups. Obama said "justice will be done" in the case, and vowed the US would not be intimidated. "We will not cower in fear," he said. Obama said the FBI and related investigative agencies had the experience to interrogate the arrested suspect, Faisal Shahzad. Obama came under fire for letting the alleged bomber of a Detroit-bound plane be questioned by the FBI instead of intelligence experts. He said the probe would seek to determine "what, if any, connection this individual has to terrorist groups, and it includes collecting critical intelligence as we work to disrupt any future attacks". "This incident is another sobering reminder of the times in which we live." reuters

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