Tracking Faisal Shahzad’s plot to bomb Times Square

USA Electronic Warfare Specialists

Tracking Terror: Timeline of Shazhad’s Arrest

AssociatedPress May 5, 2010
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has compared the arrest of the man suspected of parking a bomb-laden SUV in Times Square to the TV show “24.” He says it took just 53 hours and 20 minutes to take custody of Faisal Shahzad.

Ambassador: Shahzad ‘Was Not on Radar Screen’

• Pakistan denies Taliban link to Times Square attack

Shahzad, 30, a former financial analyst, is accused of driving the vehicle rigged with a crude homemade bomb into Times Square late on Saturday and trying to detonate it.

He has admitted to his role in the plot and to receiving bomb-making training in Pakistan, according to court papers, and was charged on Tuesday with terrorism and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in Saturday’s botched attack.

On Wednesday he reportedly waived his right to an early court appearance.

Investigators said shortly after becoming a US citizen a year ago, Shahzad gave up his job, stopped paying his mortgage and told a real estate agent to let the bank take the house because he was returning to Pakistan.

However US officials said on Wednesday they have been unable to verify statements that Shahzad trained at a Pakistani terror camp, as stated in the complaint against him, and have not linked him to any known group.

In court papers, investigators said Shahzad returned to the US on February 3, moved into an apartment in a low-rent section of Bridgeport, then set about acquiring materials and the sport utility vehicle he bought with cash in late April.

In Pakistan on Tuesday, intelligence officials said several people had been detained in connection with the case.

Al Jazeera reporting from Pakistan, said Shahzad’s father-in-law was one of the five suspects arrested in the cities of Karachi and Faisalabad.

His parents’ house was located in Peshawar, which is a gateway for foreigners seeking to travel into nearby tribal regions, where militant groups have long had sanctuary.

AssociatedPress May 5, 2010
Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. says investigators are trying to determine if Faisal Shahzad trained in Pakistan. He says no one has been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the probe, but an unspecified number of people were questioned.

Shahzad Fireworks Buy Said to Be ‘Unremarkable’

About seven weeks ago, Faisal Shahzad pulled into the parking lot at the Phantom Fireworks store in Matamoras, a borough in Pike County, Pennsylvania.

He walked into the 20,000-square-foot store and bought a package of M-88 Silver Salute fireworks, a Phantom Fireworks brand that sells for $10.99 for a 36-count box. The M-88 firecrackers are about an inch and a half long and an inch in diameter. Each contains roughly 50 milligrams of explosives, about the size of one-quarter of an aspirin. The maximum allowed in consumer fireworks.

He also bought a red canister-type firework that, when ignited, flies several feet into the air and bursts into colours while emitting popping sounds.

If Mr. Shahzad hoped that M-88 fireworks would ignite one another, he was in error as each fuse has to be ignited individually. So one going off won’t set off another one.

AssociatedPress May 5, 2010
William Weimer, an executive with Phantom Fireworks, says Faisal Shahzah spent less than $100 when he bought fireworks from the company that was allegedly found in the back of a bomb-laden S-U-V in Times Square. He described the sale as ‘unremarkable.’

A photo obtained by CBS News shows the would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad with friends in Times Square, less than 100 yards from the spot where he abandoned an explosives-laden SUV Saturday.

The photo shows Faisal Shahzad standing on the far right with his wife, Huma Mian, and several other unidentified people. Sources tell CBS News the photo is believed to have been taken a year and a half to two years ago.

The Centre for Research on Globalisation www.globalresearch.ca asks: “Were US Special Forces Involved in the Arrest of Faisal Shahzad?”

Jeremy Scahill claims that reports are emerging suggesting that secret US military intelligence aircraft were used to find and locate Faisal Shahzad, the man accused of attempting to set off a crude car bomb in Times Square. The CBS affiliate in New York reported today: “In the end, it was secret Army intelligence planes that did him in. Armed with his cell phone number, they circled the skies over the New York area, intercepting a call to Emirates Airlines reservations, before scrambling to catch him at John F. Kennedy International Airport.” The post at 5:34 PM was titled “Army Intelligence Planes Led To Suspect’s Arrest.”

But then at 6:21 PM, the article’s title was changed to “Total Time Of Investigation: 53 Hours, 20 Minutes: Faisal Shahzad In Custody After Nearly Fleeing United States.”

As Rayne observed on FireDogLake, the paragraph about the Army planes was deleted from the CBS story.

The New York Times detailed two significant lapses in the security response of the government and the airline that allowed him to come close to making his escape.

Related News stories:

• NY Car Bomb Suspect Admits to Plot
• Arrest Made in Attempted Times Square Bombing
• Car Bombs Vs Freedom of Speech
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Arab TV Airs Video of Times Square Bomb Suspect

AssociatedPress
The Al-Arabiya TV station says it has video of the failed Times Square car bomb suspect along the Afghan border. In the video, Faisal Shahzad says he planned a ‘revenge attack’ against the U.S. that he hoped would touch the hearts of Muslims.

Other News stories this week:

• News for Week 18 of 2010
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