A man identified as a US citizen of Pakistani origin has been arrested in connection with an attempted car bombing in New York's Times Square.
ABC News (Australia), 4 May 2010
US authorities arrested Faisal Shahzad, 30, as he tried to flee the country, attorney-general Eric Holder said.
Shahzad was arrested at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport as he tried to board a flight to Dubai, Mr Holder said.
"This investigation is ongoing, as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence and we continue to pursue a number of leads," he said in a hastily called news conference.
"But it's clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans."
Earlier, investigators sought to arrest the man they identified as the buyer of the vehicle used in the failed bombing.
The man recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the investigation.
The naturalised US citizen from Pakistan, who lives in neighbouring Connecticut, bought the 1993 Nissan sport utility vehicle with cash and no paperwork in the past three weeks, the paper 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 US justice department.
Investigators - who are poring over surveillance camera footage, the car and the bomb parts for clues - also want to talk to a white man in his 40s captured on video near the vehicle shortly after it was left in Times Square.
Casualties, damage and chaos would have been certain if the crude bomb made of fuel and fireworks had gone off as the area was packed with people on a warm weekend evening.
For New Yorkers who bore the brunt of the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda militants in 2001, the scare was a reminder that their city of 8 million people is under constant threat.
