Asia-Pacific
3 Pakistanis arrested in Times Square bomb probe
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-14 09:59
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Two of the men under arrest overstayed their visas and the third is already in removal proceedings, said another law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Shahzad, 30, has waived his right daily to appear in court since his May 1 arrest on charges he tried to blow up a van packed with a gasoline and propane outside Times Square's busy restaurants and Broadway theaters, US Attorney Preet Bharara said Thursday. He is continuing to provide investigators with information, Bharara said.
"We are doing exactly what, I think, people want us to do, and that is to make sure we get all the information we can with respect to any associates he may have, and other information that would help us to prevent anything further from happening in the United States," the prosecutor said.
Kifyat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad's father, has called Shahzad's detention "a conspiracy so the (Americans) can bomb more Pashtuns," a reference to a major ethnic group in Peshawar and the nearby tribal areas of Pakistan and southwest Afghanistan. He has insisted that Shahzad "was never linked to any political or religious party" in Pakistan.
Shahzad, a budget analyst who lives in Bridgeport, Conn., returned to the US in February from five months in Pakistan, where authorities say he claims to have received training in making bombs.
A law enforcement official called Thursday's raids "an evidence-gathering operation" and not a search for suspects. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials are investigating whether Shahzad got his cash through illegal money transfers.
Authorities raided a home in Watertown and a Mobil gas station and a vehicle in Brookline, another Boston suburb; a condominium in Cherry Hill, NJ; a print shop in Camden, NJ, and two Long Island homes, law enforcement officials said.
Vinny Lacerra, who lives across the street from the Watertown house, said he was in his living room about 6 a.m. when he heard somebody shout, "FBI! Put your hands up!" and saw 15 to 20 agents with guns drawn surrounding the house.
Ashim Chakraborty, who owns a home raided in Centereach, NY, said FBI and police wanted to interview a Pakistani man and an American woman who live in the basement. The woman, who did not identify herself, was still in the basement Thursday afternoon, telling reporters only, "Drop dead. I'm an American."
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan on the raids.
Islamabad has said it was too early to say whether the Pakistani Taliban, which operates from the country's lawless northwest tribal region, was behind the Times Square plot, although the US has said it found a definite link.
Pakistan has detained at least four people with alleged connections to Shahzad.
