Washington: A man believed to be an
accomplice of Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad has
been arrested in Pakistan and has provided an "independent
stream" of evidence that the Pakistani Taliban were behind the
botched plot.
Citing unnamed US officials, `The Washington Post`
reported today that the arrest of the alleged accomplice of
Shahzad in Pakistan had not been previously disclosed.
He provided an "independent stream" of evidence that the
Pakistani Taliban were behind the attempt and has admitted to
helping Pakistani-American Shahzad travel to the tribal belt
bordering Afghanistan for bomb training, the report said.
"What they (Shahzad and the suspect arrested in Pakistan)
said has been corroborated by other evidence," a senior law
enforcement source was quoted as saying by the paper.
The suspect in Pakistani custody "is believed to have a
connection to the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan)," a US
intelligence official said.
US officials cited by the paper declined to identify the
suspect in Pakistan, but said American investigators have had
direct access to him, and described him as a facilitator for
the Pakistani Taliban.
They also think that Shahzad and the other suspect may
have also exaggerated their accounts, as both said they met
Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud while being brought
into the organisation`s inner core.
But US analysts are sceptical that Mehsud, who narrowly
survived a drone strike earlier this year, would risk meeting
face-to-face with an unproved American recruit, the report
said.
US Attorney General Eric H Holder has said there was
evidence that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the May 1 plot
in which Shahzad allegedly tried to blow up a Nissan
Pathfinder packed with explosives in the crowded Times Square,
one of the world`s most popular tourist attractions.
The Washing Post report came as FBI has arrested three
Pakistani men in a series of raids across America`s northwest.
Two of them were arrested in Boston suburbs and the other
one in Maine yesterday. Authorities said the three had
supplied funds to Shahzad.
PTI
