Pakistani officials on May 21 announced that they have arrested suspects in connection with the attempted May 1 car bombing in Times Square, New York City. It is not known when these arrests took place, but they came after two U.S. senior security officials had recently come to Pakistan.
According to the BBC, one of those arrested was Salman Ashraf, co-owner with his father of Hanif Rajput Catering Service, a well-known firm used by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad. Four or five other men were also taken into custody in the same connection. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad had remarked on its website that this catering firm may have an association to “terrorist groups.” The arrests followed this posting.
It was announced on May 19 that investigators in Pakistan also arrested a former Pakistani officer, Major Adnan, who was dismissed from their army two months ago and who may have connections to the Times Square incident. There had been no direct link from the Pakistan military to the American bombing attempt until this arrest. It follows on the heels of arrests made in four U.S. states on May 13, involving several men of Pakistani descent who U.S. officials felt may have some connection to the event in New York City, including supplying funds. Authorities feel this money may possibly have been given without the suspects’ knowledge that it would finance terrorism.
The primary suspect, Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, was taken into custody two days after the car bomb he allegedly assembled was left in Times Square but failed to detonate.
It was not known when contact was made between Major Adnan and Shahzad, but it is thought there were personal meetings and phone contact just before the bombing attempt itself. Adnan was arrested at his home in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Since his own arrest on May 3, while attempting to flee New York on a plane just leaving the gate at JFK airport, Shahzad has been cooperating with the investigation and providing much information, according to officials. He has five charges against him. Says the New York Times:
For more than two weeks, Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square bombing case, was held at an undisclosed location, volunteering so much information that law enforcement officials have noted the extraordinary level of cooperation. But if Mr. Shahzad believed his openness would help his case, he may be mistaken, legal experts say. By waiving his right to a speedy court appearance and, most likely, lacking a formal agreement that a lawyer might have negotiated, he may have undermined any leverage he had. “I think he is doomed,” one former federal terror prosecutor said.
On the evening of May 18, Shahzad was arraigned and held without bail in Manhattan federal court. This was his first court appearance before a judge since his arrest and he did not enter a plea.
Meanwhile, Pakistani officials are holding another suspect in the Times Square plot, the apparent liason between Shahzad and a Pakistan terrorist group which claims responsibility for the bombing attempt. Shahzad, still the prime suspect, says he obtained training in terrorism in Pakistan as late as last year. This is when the unnamed liason claims to have had contact with Shahzad at least three times, according to the Los Angeles Times.
CIA Director Leon Panetta praised Pakistan earlier this week for its cooperation with the Times Square investigation. This was during a U.S. delegation trip to Islamabad, which included President Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, General James Jones.
Photo of Faisal Shahzad: AP Images
