By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington, May 9 (IANS) Pakistani-American suspect in the failed Times Square bombing was likely working with the militant Taliban movement in Pakistan, President Barack Obama’s top terrorism adviser said Sunday.
John Brennan, the assistant to the president for counter-terrorism and homeland security, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the ongoing investigation pointed to Faisal Shahzad having links to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The militant group is believed to be hiding senior Al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden.
“It looks like he was working on behalf of the Pakistani Taliban,” Brennan said. The finding, he said, “underscores the serious threat that we face from a very determined enemy”.
Brennan’s comments come after speculation that TTP had orchestrated the attack.
Pakistan-born Shahzad, who became a naturalised US citizen last year, spent five months in Pakistan before returning to the US in February and preparing for his attack.
The suspect has told investigators that he trained in Waziristan area of Pakistan, known as a hotbed of terrorism where both Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban operate.
Shahzad was arrested when he was about to flee to his homeland. He was picked up from an Emirates Airlines jet in New York just minutes before it was scheduled to take off for Dubai.
The finding could increase US pressure on Pakistan to clamp down on the terrorist network. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already warned Pakistan that if a terror attack like the failed New York bombing were to be successful and found to be originated from that country, “there would be very severe consequences”.