Times Square Scare: Suspect admits culpability – Linked to Jaish-E-Mohammed militant group in Pakistan

A Pakistani-American, the 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, arrested on Monday in the failed Times Square car explosive attempt has admitted his role in the attempted attack and said he received explosives training in Wasiristan, Pakistan, it has been reported.

Shahzad who is a Naturalized U.S. Citizen which he obtained in February 2009 was arrested as he tried to flee the country in a Dubai-bound jet late Monday. Hours later, there were reports that seven or eight people had been arrested in Pakistan, as officials in both countries sought to determine the origins and scope of the plot.

It is to the credit of the U.S. law enforcement authorities which took only 53 hours and 20 minutes from the detection of the explosion attempt to arrest the suspect.

Mr. Shahzad was charged on Tuesday with several terrorism-related crimes. The U.S. anti-terrorism experts and other law enforcement agencies are engaged in ascertaining his links to the international terror network in general and Pakistani militant groups in particular.

Early reports indicate that Faisal Shahzad maintained links to a Pakistani militant group called JAISH-E-MOHAMMED, one of the Kashmiri militant groups. Mr. Shahzad himself is an ethnic Kashmiri.

Mr. Shahzad, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan who lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and other federal charges, several related to explosives. If his links to any militant groups in Pakistan are established Shahzad can be charged under the Material Support Law of the Patriot Act.

He provided what the Federal Bureau of Investigation called “valuable intelligence and evidence.”

In Pakistan officials identified one of those arrested as Tauhid Ahmed and said he had been in touch with Mr. Shahzad through e-mail and had met him either in the United States or in the Pakistani port city of Karachi.

Another man arrested, Muhammad Rehan, had spent time with Mr. Shahzad during a recent visit there, Pakistani officials said. Mr. Rehan was arrested in Karachi just after morning prayers at a mosque known for its links with the militant group Jaish-e-Muhammad.

Profile of Faisal Shahzad

Born in June 1979 in a village called Pabbi in Pakistan Mr. Shahzad came from a very affluent and prominent family in Pakistan. He is from a privileged background as his father was a very senior commander of the Pakistan Air Force. He was later the head of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.

There was no doubt that the suspect came from a very prominent military family in Pakistan.
He travelled to the United States on a student visa, graduated in computer science from Bridgeport University in Connecticut in 2000, earned a Masters in Business Administration in 2005 in information technology from the same university.

He bought a house with a mortgage of US$ 214,000 in 2004 in Connecticut. He has two children but both of them are now with his wife residing in Pakistan.

It is said that in 2008 he had trouble paying the monthly mortgage, and the following year the house was listed for foreclosure. It is during this time that his wife left with the two children.

He received his naturalized citizenship in February 2009, but in July that year he travelled to Pakistan. It was in February 2010 that Mr. Shahzad returned to the United States.

It is this eight months that the U.S. law enforcement authorities are focusing on as to what he did and his whereabouts.

He admitted that he had training in explosives in Wasiristan; US authorities are investigating as to who gave him the training.

It is said that he may have links to a Pakistani militant group, which is in fact one of the Kashmiri groups. Mr. Shahzad himself is ethnic Kashmiri.

The reports indicate that he has had connections with militant groups in Pakistan.

- Asian Tribune -