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May 2, 2010
NY confirm failed car bomb

Obama praises quick action in NY

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama commended the 'quick action' by New York police in dealing with an apparent failed car bomb that prompted an evacuation of New York's Times Square on Saturday night, the White House said. A statement issued by the White House said the New York Police Department had done 'excellent work' in responding to the incident.

'The president commended the quick action by the NYPD and asked John Brennan (the president's top counter-terrorismadviser) to communicate to NYPD that the federal government is prepared to provide support. John Brennan, working with the NYPD and others, will continue to keep the president up to date on the investigation,' the White House statement said.



The New York Police Department said the incident that caused Times Square to be evacuated was what appeared to be a car bomb, which was being dismantled by officers on the scene. -- PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK - AN apparent failed car bomb in a vehicle that was smoking and emitted a small 'flash' caused police to evacuate New York's Times Square as bomb specialists worked to dismantle the device on Saturday night, Broadway's busiest night. 'This appears to be a car bomb that the bomb squad is in the process of dismantling,' New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said. 'We do not know the motive.'

Browne said an NYPD mounted policeman spotted a box smoking in the back of the Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle and that the popular tourist destination in the heart of Manhattan's Midtown was evacuated shortly after that. A police source who asked not to be named said the device was a car bomb and it included three tanks of propane and two canisters of gasoline. He said police had not fully cleared the Pathfinder. He would not say whether the incident was being treated as an act of terrorism.

New York authorities have remained on high alert for another attack since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in which hijacked airliners toppled the World Trade Center's twin towers. Last year, police said they thwarted a plot to bomb the New York subway system and arrested a number of suspects in a case that has led to some guilty pleas. A New York Fire Department officer told Reuters the vehicle was found to contain explosives, gasoline, propane and burnt wires and was being treated as a 'failed device'.

The officer, who did not give his name because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said a man was seen fleeing the car and that police had protectively evacuated several blocks in case there were other devices. In Washington, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the Joint Terrorism Task Force has responded to the incident along with the NYPD. A US official, who asked not to be identified by name, said the Department of Homeland Security was aware of the situation and was monitoring developments, but declined to comment further. The official said the NYPD was in charge of the investigation. -- REUTERS

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May 2, 2010
NY Times Square evacuated



Police evacuated New York's Times Square on Saturday night after a dark-coloured sports utility vehicle was found to be smoking and a small 'flash' was observed by firefighters on the scene. -- PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK - POLICE evacuated New York's Times Square on Saturday night after a dark-coloured sports utility vehicle was found to be smoking and a small 'flash' was observed by firefighters on the scene. Officers at the scene said the evacuation order stemmed from an 'emergency investigation' and dozens of officers blocked access to the busy central Manhattan square, which is popular with tourists and theatre-goers..

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said a vehicle had been left in Times Square, with smoke seen coming from it. There was an unconfirmed report that someone was seen running from the car, Browne said. A bomb squad responded and a small fire was extinguished, he said.
'We're just trying to determine if it was anything other than a car fire,' said Browne. 'We don't know yet if it's anything more than that.' A New York City firefighter who said he arrived early on the scene described the vehicle as a dark-coloured SUV, and said it was parked at the corner of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue.

He confirmed the vehicle was smoking and also said he saw 'a flash' from the back of the SUV. The firefighter said a 'mini-explosion' occurred between 6 pm and 6.30 pm (6-6.30am Sunday, Singapore time). 'The SUV was smoking. There was a flash and we put two and two together' and an evacuation was ordered, he said. Other emergency personnel on the scene called the incident a 'car fire'.

The firefighter said the bomb squad remained at the scene as of 9 pm, including a firefighter in a bomb suit. A robot was being used to investigate the suspicious SUV. Reuters reporters on the scene said they heard an explosion from the area of the SUV around 9.15 pm. Two fire trucks were also at the scene, prepared to douse the vehicle with water if needed, the firefighter said. The square itself was mostly evacuated by 8 pm. -- REUTERS

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May 3, 2010
Hunt for Times Sq car bomber



New York's security services had a wealth of evidence to work from, starting with the green Nissan Pathfinder found packed with propane gas canisters, gasoline, fireworks, wires and two clocks. -- PHOTO: AP

NEW YORK - US INVESTIGATORS combed evidence Sunday for clues to the perpetrator who mounted what the White House called an 'extremely serious' car bombing attempt in New York's packed Times Square. Officials remained silent on who they thought was behind the attempted bombing late Saturday. An Internet video purportedly from Pakistani Taliban group Tarik-e-Taliban claimed responsibility, the US monitoring service SITE said. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly however told reporters Sunday that there was no evidence to support the claim.

Posted on YouTube, the video said the attempted bombing was to avenge the recent killing of two top Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq and US drone strikes in Pakistan, SITE said. New York's security services had a wealth of evidence to work from, starting with the green Nissan Pathfinder found packed with propane gas canisters, gasoline, fireworks, wires and two clocks. Licence plates on the car were registered to a different vehicle, police said, while identification marks on the Nissan had been erased. -- AFP

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Suspect arrested in N.Y. bomb case
Official: Suspect in custody in NY car bomb attack



AFP/NYPD/Ho – Video grab from an NYPD surveillance camera shows a middle-aged white man near a car bomb in Times Square …

By TOM HAYS and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writers Tom Hays And Colleen Long, Associated Press Writers – 11 mins ago

NEW YORK – A suspect in last weekend's failed car bomb attack on Times Square was taken into custody late Monday while trying to leave the country, a law enforcement official said. The suspect, a Pakistani, was identified at midnight Monday at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was stopped, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press early Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. The suspect was identified as Faisal Shahzad, but his hometown wasn't disclosed. He was being held in New York.

Law enforcement officials said he recently returned from a trip to Pakistan and bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder used in the failed car bomb three weeks ago and paid cash. The officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case. 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. 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 Broadway theaters and restaurants and full of people out on a Saturday night.

The SUV was captured on video crossing an intersection at 6:28 p.m. Saturday. A vendor pointed out the Pathfinder to an officer about two minutes later. Times Square, clogged with tourists on a warm evening, was shut down for 10 hours. No one was hurt. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne confirmed Monday that investigators had spoken to the SUV's registered owner. The vehicle identification number had been removed from Pathfinder's dashboard, but it was stamped on the engine and axle, and investigators used it to find the owner of record. "The discovery of the VIN on the engine block was pivotal in that it led to the 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.

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Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah

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May 4, 2010

NEW YORK CAR BOMB
Pakistani-American wanted



An image from a video released by the Pakistani Taleban who appear to claim responsibility for the attempted car bombing in New York. US investigators want to arrest a Pakistani-American man they have identified as the buyer of the vehicle used in a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square, the New York Times reported on Monday. -- PHOTO: AP

NEW YORK - US INVESTIGATORS want to arrest a Pakistani-American man they have identified as the buyer of the vehicle used in a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square, the New York Times reported on Monday. The man recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, the newspaper said, citing people briefed on the investigation. The naturalised US citizen from Pakistan, who lives in neighboring Connecticut, bought the 1993 Nissan sport utility vehicle with cash and no paperwork in the last three weeks, the Times said.

'Investigators who were tracking the man were also exploring whether he or others who might have been involved in the attempted bombing had been in contact with people or groups overseas,' it said, citing unnamed federal officials. Law enforcement sources told Reuters that Saturday's attempted attack may have involved more than one person and could have international ties. The hunt for the suspects has now been taken over by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Justice Department. Investigators - who are poring over surveillance camera footage, the Pathfinder and the bomb parts for clues - want to talk to a white man in his 40s captured on video near the vehicle shortly after it was left in Times Square. -- REUTERS