New York (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin was arrested on suspicion of being linked to a failed bomb attack in Times Square May 1 last. U.S. media say the man called Faisal Shahzad and was stopped by police while trying to board a plane at JF Kennedy Airport, perhaps to go to Dubai. According to preliminary information, the man lived in the State of Connecticut, is about 30, and is the owner of the vehicle found with the engine running and full of explosives. Police sources say the man recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, three weeks ago he bought the car, paying cash and without change of ownership documents.
The attack failed due to the speediness of some street vendors near the sports car, an SUV, who immediately called the bomb squad. This car, a Nissan Pathfinder, was filled with three bottles of propane, two containers of gasoline, fireworks and fertilizers, parked in a crowded area full of pedestrians.
The White House spokesman said: "I think there was an intention to carry out a terrorist act ... And I would say that whoever did this should be called terrorist."
The New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, described the assassination attempt, "the work of an amateur, but authorities believe that if it had exploded, the car would have done a lot of damage”. Until now, the only group to claim the attempted attack has been Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, a militant group based in Pakistan but s fighting both in that country and in Afghanistan.