Clinton: "severe consequences" in case of attack

Updated on : Saturday, May 08, 2010

NEW YORK: The United States has warned of "severe consequences" if a successful extremist attack in America were traced back to Pakistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a failed bid to bomb New York's Times Square last Saturday. If proven, it would be the group's first act in the United States.

Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad has been charged with driving the crude homemade bomb into Midtown Manhattan and said he acted alone, according to authorities. But investigators have uncovered possible links to the Pakistani Taliban and a Kashmiri Islamist group.

"We've gotten more cooperation. It's been a real sea change in the commitment we have seen from the Pakistani government. We want more, we expect more," Clinton said in the interview to be aired on Sunday. Excerpts were released on Friday.

"We've made it very clear that if -- heaven-forbid -- an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe consequences," she said, without elaborating.

Shahzad, 30, who was born in Pakistan and became a U.S. citizen last year, has admitted to the failed plot and to receiving bomb-making training in a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan, prosecutors said.

He has been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and trying to kill and maim people, as well as other counts. Shahzad is yet to appear in court as he has waived his U.S. legal rights and is talking to investigators.

Times Square suspect says he acted alone: official

Updated on : Tuesday, May 04, 2010

NEW YORK: A law enforcement official says the man accused of driving a bomb-laden vehicle into Times Square was arrested onboard a flight set to leave a New York airport for Dubai.

The official familiar with the investigation tells a foreign news agency that Faisal Shahzad was taken into custody aboard the flight at Kennedy International Airport.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

The official says investigators still don't have evidence that Shahzad is connected to the Pakistani Taliban or any foreign terror groups.

The official says, “He's claimed to have acted alone, but these are things that have to be investigated."

Times Square cleared as suspected car bomb found

Updated on : Sunday, May 02, 2010

NEW YORK: Police found a suspected car bomb in a smoking sport utility vehicle Saturday evening in Times Square, then cleared the streets of thousands of tourists milling through the landmark district so they could dismantle the device.

A white robotic police arm broke windows of the black Nissan Pathfinder to remove any explosive materials while heavily armed police and emergency vehicles shut down the city's busiest streets, teeming with taxis and theatergoers on one of the first summer-like days of the year.

Investigators removed bomb-making materials, including propane tanks, explosive powders and a crude timing device, top police spokesman Paul Browne said.

"There were explosive elements, including powder, gasoline, propane and some kind of electrical wires attached to a clock," Browne said early Sunday. "No motive has been identified."

An officer noticed smoke coming from the SUV around 6:30 p.m. and cleared the streets. The area remained closed more than seven hours later.

Police are investigating a report that someone was seen running from the vehicle at some point and are reviewing security videotapes, Browne said. The Nissan Pathfinder's license plates do not match the car's registration, he said.

Police evacuated several residential and commercial buildings and cleared the streets of people. Police were deployed around the area with heavy weapons on empty streets in the heart of busy midtown Manhattan.

Some tourists reported hearing a small explosion hours after the car was first located.

Shelly Carlisle, of Portland, Ore., said police crowded into her Broadway theater after the curtain closed on "Next to Normal," a show on the same block where the SUV was found.

"At the end of the show, the police came in. We were told we had to leave," Carlisle said. "They said there was a bomb scare."

The car was parked on 45th Street, and the block was closed between Seventh and Eighth avenues as a precaution, police said. Times Square lies about four traffic-choked miles north of where terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, then laid waste to it on Sept. 11, 2001.

FBI agents are on the scene with the New York Police Department, and the matter is being taken seriously, said Paul Bresson, head of the FBI's public affairs office at bureau headquarters in Washington.

The Homeland Security Department is aware of the situation, but the NYPD has it under control and is investigating, said a Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is in progress.

The block that was closed is one of the prime blocks for Broadway shows, with seven theaters housing such big shows as "Billy Elliot" and "Lend Me a Tenor."

The curtain at "God of Carnage" and "Red" opened a half-hour later than usual, but the shows were not canceled, said spokesman Adrian Bryan-Brown.

Katy Neubauer, 46, and Becca Saunders, 39, of Milwaukee, were shopping for souvenirs two blocks south of the SUV when they saw panicked crowds.

"It was a mass of people running away from the scene," Neubauer said.

Said Saunders: "There were too many people, too many cops. I've never seen anything like it."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg left early from the White House correspondent's dinner Saturday night. A news conference was planned in New York for early Sunday.

President Barack Obama, who attended the annual gala, praised the quick response by the New York Police Department, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. He has also directed his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, to advise New York officials that the federal government is prepared to provide support.

Brennan and others will keep Obama up to date on the investigation, Shapiro said.

In December, a van without license plates parked in Times Square led police to block off part of the area for about two hours. A police robot examined the vehicle, and clothes, racks and scarves were found inside.

US overhauls terror watch lists

Updated on : Tuesday, January 5, 2010

WASHINGTON: US terror watch lists have been radically overhauled after a foiled attack on a US-bound jet, the White House said Monday, as President Barack Obama prepared for key talks on the security scare.

The news came as tougher screening procedures for all US-bound air travelers swung into effect in airports around the world.

Obama, who has denounced "systemic" intelligence failures in the Christmas Day plot, was preparing to meet with US intelligence chiefs and security officials on Tuesday to review the findings of two probes into the incident.

But White House spokesman Bill Burton said "safety and security measures are moving forward even as the review goes on" in a bid to plug security gaps. "There's already been a rescrubbing of all the different lists," he told journalists, referring to the lists which determine whether a person is allowed to board a US-bound flight in a foreign airport.

"Probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed, and probably dozens were moved to different lists," he added.

Obama has directly linked the Al-Qaeda network, responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, to the botched bid to blow up a Northwest jet with 290 people on board on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

In the wake of the failed attack, the administration has also ordered tight new security measures for US-bound passengers after a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly tried to bring down the jet.

All passengers heading for the United States could now face random checks, patdowns or baggage checks. And all travelers flying from or via 14 countries including Iran, Nigeria and Yemen will have to undergo mandatory enhanced screening before boarding their US-bound flights, under the new rules.

According to US prosecutors, Abdulmutallab tried to bring down Flight 253 using a device containing the explosive PETN, also known as pentaerythritol.

Stitched into his underwear, it was not spotted by traditional metal detectors. It failed to go off properly, but sparked an on-board fire that was swiftly put out when passengers intervened. Obama was Monday receiving a review into the incident from the CIA and was meeting with his top counter-terrorism advisor, John Brennan.