Pakistan denies Taliban link to Times Square bomb suspect

[Mujahid]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's army does not believe the Pakistani Taliban were behind the Times Square bomb attempt as the insurgent group has claimed, a spokesman said Wednesday.

In a video message on Sunday, the group said it carried out the attack, in what would be the first time it had been known to strike outside South Asia. US officials quickly dismissed the claim, but the arrest of a Pakistan-American who allegedly has admitted to being trained in the group's heartland in Waziristan has given it new credence.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the military's chief spokesman, said the claim should be ''taken with a pinch of salt.''

''Anybody can claim anything, but whether the organization has that kind of reach is questionable. I don't think they have the capacity to reach the next level,'' he said.

The attack is likely to increase pressure on the Pakistani army to launch a new offensive in the northern part of Waziristan, something it has been avoiding until now. US and European officials have long said that many of the terror plots in the West are hatched in the region.

Abbas declined to comment on reports that the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, had been to Waziristan for training.

The army had claimed to have delivered the Pakistani Taliban a decisive blow in an operation late last year in South Waziristan. But the notion that the Pakistani Taliban are on the ropes has been shaken by the emergence of videos of a top commander previously believed to have been killed, and the group's claims of responsibility for the Times Square bomb attempt. – AP

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Pakistan doubts Taliban Times Square claim

 

[mehru]

WASHINGTON: A senior US military commander and a lawmaker said on Friday they believed the man who tried to bomb New York’s Times Square was a ‘lone wolf’.

Gen David Petraeus, who oversees America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, told a US news agency there was no indication that Faisal Shahzad worked with others in concocting the terror attack or the homemade bomb.

“We don’t know that this individual did something that escaped in some way our ability to pick up on either his trip to Pakistan or some other case,” said Congressman Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, when asked at a news conference why US intelligence agencies failed to learn about Faisal’s links to the Taliban.

Gen Petraeus, however, told AP that Faisal was “inspired by militants in Pakistan but didn’t have direct contact with them”.

On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that US investigators were “increasingly convinced that (Faisal’s) accounts to interrogators, in particular his assertion that he was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, are on the mark”.

The report, quoting anonymous intelligence sources, also claimed that US officials had identified an “overseas courier” who funnelled money to Shahzad for the failed terrorist attack.

The Obama’s administration believed that drone attacks were not adequate in thwarting militant attempts on the West. And it was considering an “expanded training mission” by US Special Forces to establish enough “confidence” in the Pakistani military to launch offensives against militant strongholds in North Waziristan, a press report said.

The US administration did not share the media’s enthusiasm, particularly when it came to browbeating Pakistan.

“We have dramatically increased our partnership with Pakistan – intense security cooperation, supporting Pakistan’s largest offensive against terrorism within borders – within its borders in years, an offensive that is focused not just on Al Qaeda, but on the Pakistani Taliban as well,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Mr Gibbs also downplayed the suggestion that Faisal had received training at a camp in North Waziristan.

“The specific region was not, as I recall, brought up in great detail today,” said the White House spokesman when asked if President Barack Obama had discussed the terror camps in North Waziristan with his war council on Thursday.

“Suffice to say that many regions in Pakistan have been the focus of our cooperative work with Pakistan, the government of Pakistan for the length of our administration, understanding that we have a threat that continues from that region of the world.”

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Shahzad a ?lone wolf?: Petraeus

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Pakistan denies Taliban link to Times Square bomb suspect​

Investigators dismiss US claims that Faisal Shahzad was working under direction of Pakistani Taliban

Pakistani investigators have found no evidence to support American claims that the failed Times Square bomber was working under the direction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Guardian has learned.

Senior officials in Washington – including the attorney general, Eric Holder, and John Brennan, the White House's special adviser on counterterrorism – have said that the suspected bomber, Faisal Shahzad, conspired with militants in Pakistan, but a Pakistani security official with knowledge of the investigation said: "No Taliban link has come to the fore."

The interrogation of Muhammad Rehan, a friend of Shahzad who was arrested last week outside a radical mosque in Karachi, has not yielded a link to the Pakistani Taliban or any other militant group. Rehan, a member of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad extremist group, remains the only suspected link found between 30-year-old Shahzad and the militant underworld in Pakistan.

Officials in Islamabad are perplexed and angry at statements from Washington about Shahzad's links with the Pakistani Taliban, believing that the US is exploiting the issue to apply pressure for new military offensives in Pakistan's tribal border area with Afghanistan, in the north Waziristan region.

"We have not found any involvement of Rehan [in the New York attempted bombing]. He didn't introduce Faisal Shahzad to the Pakistani Taliban," said the security official.

"There are no roots to this case, so how can we trace something back?"

An FBI team which flew into Pakistan after the arrest of Shahzad was allowed to question Rehan on Sunday. More than a dozen other suspects taken into custody in Karachi have been released, but the investigation is continuing, so new leads could yet emerge.

Rehan's arrest as he left prayers at the Karachi mosque was seized on by the international press as evidence of Shahzad's involvement with Pakistani militant groups. It emerged that Rehan and Shahzad had last year taken a 1,000-mile road trip from Karachi to Peshawar, on the edge of Pakistan's tribal area, raising further suspicions.

However, Pakistani investigators have found that Rehan was not a very active member of JEM, a violent group primarily against India and with no history of global activities. He knew Shahzad because he is related to Shahzad's wife.

Shahzad, a naturalised American citizen of Pakistani origin, told US interrogators that he had been trained in Waziristan, part of Pakistan's tribal area, according to the court charges laid against him.

After the failed attack, the Pakistani Taliban released a video in which its chief trainer of suicide bombers, Qari Hussain, appeared to claim responsibility. But that video said nothing specifically about New York, Shahzad, or a car bomb.

Since then, the Pakistani Taliban's official spokesman, Azam Tariq, has twice denied that his group was involved with Shahzad. The ineptness of Shahzad's bomb, which did not go off, also raised doubts over whether the Pakistani Taliban could have trained him.

Holder said at the weekend that the Pakistani Taliban were "intimately involved" in Shahzad's attempted bombing. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, also warned Islamabad of "dire consequences" if a plot originating in Pakistan succeeded in the US.

But David Petraeus, the American general in charge of the Middle East and central Asia, had previously said that Shahzad was a "lone wolf" who was "inspired by militants in Pakistan but didn't have direct contact with them".

A senior Pakistani government official said: "There is a disconnect between the Pentagon and the [Obama] administration. The Pentagon gets it that more open pressure on Pakistan is not helpful."

The US focus on Pakistan's tribal area, thought to be a power base for the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as Pakistani Taliban, continued today with another missile strike from an unmanned American drone aircraft, the third such attack since the failed Times Square bombing. The strike, in north Waziristan, reportedly killed at least 14 militants. The Obama administration has unleashed an intensive campaign of drone attacks inside Pakistani territory, targeting extremist hideouts in the tribal area.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

Pakistan denies Taliban link to Times Square bomb suspect | World news | The Guardian

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Pak Army to decide about NW offensive, not US: Haroon​

NEW YORK: Pakistan’s U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon has called Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square bomb attempt, a “misguided soul” who had acted alone, and he disagreed with Obama administration officials’ claim that the accused was trained by the Pakistani Taliban.

In an interview on CBS television on Monday, he said that General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, “had it right that this was the act of a lone man.”

Petraeus stated (prior to the administration’s claims Sunday) that Shahzad, the 30-year -old US citizen of Pakistani descent, operated as a “lone wolf” who did not work with other terrorists.

But senior White House officials said Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban backed the failed Times Square bombing. On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” U.S. Presidential adviser John Brennan accused Shahzad of working with a Pakistani Taliban group closely allied with al Qaeda.

Although Ambassador Haroon said that the Obama administration may have other evidence, he said, “All I am saying is that the evidence I have points in one direction: It does not have its signature of the Taliban.”

“This is not, and I repeat not, a Pakistan terror threat,” the Pakistani envoy said, while underscoring the fact that Shahzad is not a Pakistani citizen.

In making that point, he reaffirmed Pakistan’s firm commitment to eradicate the menace of terrorism. Haroon also took issue with Secretary of State Hillary’s Clinton’s claim that some in Pakistani government know about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda, saying he believes no one knows where those individuals were.

If the Pakistani government knew about the location of Osama Bin Laden, they would have gone after him, he added. Dealing with the Shahzad’s case, the Pakistan ambassador said that the attempted Times square bombing was a “horrible act” by that “misguided soul” who might have been inspired or aided by other, and not by the Taliban, who had denied any responsibility. “If this is the standard of the TTP, the I think there is nothing to worry about,” he said.

The attempt was botched to such a degree that it was “not even funny,” the envoy said. Haroon said the reason he believes that the Taliban have no hand was because this militant group has carried out so many successful bombings inside Pakistan, killing and maiming thousands of innocent people. The mixture that Shahzad had prepared to bomb Times Square was not the one used by the Taliban, who do not use propane.

What Shahzad had done was something that one could pick up on the internet, he said, adding there was nothing professional about it. Besides, what was left in the rigged car was not a bomb; it was an incendiary device without a trigger.

Asked why the Taliban had denied responsibility for the bomb attempt in New York, the ambassador remarked, “Because this makes them a laughing stock!” Haroon said even though Shahzad is an American citizen, Pakistan feels responsible because it was an ally in the war on terrorism, which more was beneficial to his country as it was the victim of that menace.

About Clinton’s claim that some Pakistanis having knowledge about Osmaba bin Laden’s whereabouts, Haroon said if that was so, the Pakistan Army would have hunted for him.
And if the Americans had any idea, they would sent missiles from drones hovering over the rugged Pak-Afghan border.

In his well-reasoned arguments, Ambassador Haroon reminded the American audience that Pakistan had captured and handed over the maximum number of terror suspects to the United States.

“No one comes even close,” he said. And in the terror war, the Pakistan Army had suffered more casualties than the NATO forces in Afghanistan combined.

Pakistan, he added, had to face some “brutal and terrible” moments with the extremists and there was no reason to link Islamabad with them.

Pakistan, the ambassador, had gone out of the way and continue to do so to “finish this problem”. He said that the Pakistani army, not the U.S. military, will have to decide when and how to send forces to North Waziristan.

The Pakistan Army, whose resources are limited, needed eight to nine months to encircle the region before launching an operation.

In the interview, Haroon also repeated his calls for a fatwa to be issued by regional clerics against suicide bombers. “Why don’t they issue a fatwa - which is the Islamic way of doing it - saying that suicide bombing of innocents is un-Islamic,” he asked.

Pak Army to decide about NW offensive, not US: Haroon

 

[Pakistani Man]

What baffles me is why is there a Pakistani Taliban, and why are they allowed to exist.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Senators take exception to US threats​

Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Term Times Square bomb plot a drama; Akhtar says Pakistan should warn Washington as Faisal is US citizen

By Muhammad Anis

ISLAMABAD: The legislators in the Senate on Monday took strong exception to the statement of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she warned Islamabad of severe consequences if a terror plot is traced back to Pakistan in future.

“The naked threat from Hillary Clinton has come only because of stinging foreign policy of the Pakistan government,” PML-N Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah said while speaking on a point of order. The issue soon turned into a debate as members from the PML-Q and the JUI-F also criticised the US official for hurling threats to Pakistan.

They repeatedly asked Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, who was sitting in the front row, to give a policy statement on the floor of the House in reaction to the warning issued by Hillary Clinton.

“They have no right to warn. Instead we should warn them as Faisal Shahzad is a US citizen,” PML-Q Senator Haroon Akhtar observed on a point of order. He said if claims of the US officials were true then why a US citizen travelled to Pakistan for those objectives and he reached the Times Square while defying strict security.

Zafar Ali Shah said that Hillary Clinton had issued a threat to Pakistan in clear words while linking the failed Time Square bombing to the country which is their frontline ally in the war against terror.

He said it is the state of Pakistan government’s foreign policy that its foreign minister, while attending a seminar in India, said the neighbouring country is not stealing Pakistan’s water. He said following recent strategic dialogue, the United States was now threatening Pakistan of attacking it and acting inside the country.

PML-Likeminded Senator Salim Saifullah Khan also supported the viewpoint of Zafar Ali Shah, saying the US secretary of state used very strong language against Pakistan. Senator Haroon Akhtar questioned the US security when US officials claimed that Faisal Shahzad reached the Times Square, along with explosive material, in a car.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, while terming the friendship between Pakistan and the US one-sided affair, demanded that the Senate should pass a resolution against Hillary Clinton’s objectionable statement. “They want to keep us as slaves,” he said.

Calling for solid and strong viewpoint from the Pakistan government against the statement of the US official, Haideri said the Times Square’s failed plot was a drama like 9/11 attack. The JUI-F senators staged a token walkout from the House against the operation in the Kala Dhaka area of Mansehra.

Speaking on a point of order, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan said despite time and again appeals from their party leadership, security forces were continuing operation in Kala Dhaka. He said even women are not spared from the search process. “An emergency-like situation is prevailing in the area,” he said.

He said the government was assured that the people of the area would hand over the wanted persons if they were hiding in Kala Dhaka. Senator Afrasiab Khattak on another point of order said no military operation was going on in Kala Dhaka rather it was a search operation being conducted with the consent of elders.

Senators take exception to US threats

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

US general denies putting pressure on Pakistan
​

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

By Sami Abraham

ISLAMABAD: Commander of the US forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal has called for understanding of Pakistan’s “major” anti-Taliban effort and denied reports that he had asked the Pakistani Army chief to do more in fighting the militants.

The US general said this in a White House briefing on Monday that “there was an unfortunate news story that came out which was completely inaccurate. It represented that I had expressed to General Kayani the US policy on doing more. That just did not happen.”

He was speaking in the backdrop of reports that claimed that the US was pressuring Pakistan to extend its anti-militancy operations to North Waziristan in the wake of the Times Square car bombing attempt.

McChrystal said: “I think it is interesting that most people do not understand the scope of Pakistani effort against the TTP. It’s been large and it has been costly. They have lost a lot of soldiers in a significant campaign that has actually been waged very well.

“I think it is really good when we get a chance to understand the major effort that they have made,” he said. McChrystal said: “It is important that we understand that the insurgency faced by Pakistan, the TTP is an essential threat.

“I mean it is a significant threat to their country and it is complementary to what Afghanistan faces. It puts the two nations with a common problem. “The Afghan Taliban and the TTP are distinct but they are not completely unrelated. And, therefore, it is important that we synch our two campaigns together. And that is why I spent a lot of time with General Kayani, who is a good partner working that.”

US general denies putting pressure on Pakistan

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

These two links discuss how the US is now backtracking and how there were early warning signs that the Taliban link story being bandied about might not have any credible evidence supporting it:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/pakist...ltiplying-military-civilian-aid-pakistan.html

http://www.defence.pk/forums/pakist...ork-times-jumps-gun-no-credible-evidence.html

In all of this, if the lack of evidence pointing to a Taliban connection continues to be the case, it is the US State department and Justice Department (Hillary and Holder) that come across looking like liars, or at best hasty in making statements based on incorrect and incomplete information (the run-up to the Iraq war anyone?)

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Can this be termed as a False Flag scenario to malign Pakistan and to have a justification to declare Pakistan a terrorist state or to Pressurize it in case Islamabad dosent serve US bidding. Very much likely i guess..!!!

 

[Paksindhi]

What baffles me is why is there a Pakistani Taliban, and why are they allowed to exist.

I AM SURE ONE DAY U WILL COME FACE TO FACE WITH THEM, REPEAT UR QUESTION THEN BROTHER.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Can this be termed as a False Flag scenario to malign Pakistan and to have a justification to declare Pakistan a terrorist state or to Pressurize it in case Islamabad dosent serve US bidding. Very much likely i guess..!!!

From the WaPo:

U.S. officials have praised Pakistan for its swift work in tracing Pakistani American suspect Faisal Shahzad's local ties as well as its ongoing military operations against the domestic Taliban, but they also want the nation to do more to curb other extremist groups that preach jihad and offer help to would-be terrorists.

U.S. allegations Sunday that Shahzad received help from Pakistani Taliban militants in the country's northwest also seem likely to put pressure on Pakistan to launch army operations in the tribal region of North Waziristan. Until now, army leaders have resisted, partly because troops are bogged down in other anti-Taliban actions and partly because an offensive could turn friendly local fighters against the state.

A Pakistani security official said senior officials are contemplating an offensive in North Waziristan because the Pakistani Taliban is gaining strength there and more-malleable militant groups are losing control. He said that Pakistani thinking on North Waziristan has nothing to do with the attempted New York attack but rather that the presence of "terrorists" there is "a huge problem that needs to be addressed." He gave no timetable for an offensive.

Many Pakistanis have condemned the attempted bombing, saying Shahzad's alleged actions were un-Islamic and hurt both countries. But in editorials, sermons and protests, activists have blamed the West for spotlighting Pakistan as a source of terrorism because of one incident.

The Nation newspaper, an outlet for nationalist views, declared, "It is crystal clear that the U.S. government is always behind such planted arrests." On Sunday, thousands of supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party protested in Karachi. Several said they were sure Shahzad had been set up by the CIA. "He's an innocent person. They want to interlink Faisal Shahzad and the Taliban and create a conspiracy against Pakistan," said Fahad Kashif Iqbal, 20, a student.

Some Pakistani officials have lent credence to such theories or have sought to explain the attempted attack as a reaction to U.S. policy. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said initially that before cooperating with the United States, "one has to see, is it some conspiracy against Pakistan?" Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the attempted bombing could have been a response to U.S. drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal areas.

Although most experts and politicians dismissed the conspiracy theories, they too complained that the incident has tarred Pakistan's reputation. Mushahid Hussain, a leader of the political opposition, said the tendency to link Pakistan with "anything bad, anywhere in the world," was very damaging to his country's image. "It's Pakistan-bashing season," he said.

Adding to the sense of indignation were televised comments made by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the CBS program "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. Clinton warned that Pakistan would face "severe consequences" if a future terrorist attack on U.S. soil were traced back to Pakistan.

"Clinton's statement and threatening tone will revive Pakistani fears that no matter how much we do, it won't be enough," said Rifaat Hussain, a professor of defense and strategic studies at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. "Pakistan has bent over backwards to cooperate on this case. My question is, what more can we do?"

Hussain said that army leaders have made it clear they "mean business" about defeating the Taliban but that they want to control the "timing and details" of their operations. "There is always an element of doubt and mistrust when it comes to sharing strategic intelligence, but there is no doubt about the strategic intent," he said.

washingtonpost.com

The opinions in Pakistan seem to be divided between

1. the US attempting to manipulate a genuine terrorist attempt, by distorting the facts related to the event, to pressure Pakistan to 'do more' and force it to take military action when it does not yet feel ready, and
2. on the right primarily, that the whole thing was a setup.

The disappointing part is that, as mentioned in the WaPo article and in the NW analysis thread, the PA was already looking at a 'sooner than later' advance into NW, and cooperation between the US and Pakistan, on multiple levels, was on an upswing.

I am not sure who came up with the 'brilliant' idea to start making public statements of the kind made by Holder and Clinton, and the 'anonymous sources' led anti-Pakistan media offensive, since it has only served to make Pakistan take a step back and question US sincerity to the proclaimed 'long term relationship'.

One downside of the Clinton and Holder statements, if the Taliban link remains unproven, is that it is likely to make many in Pakistan question the veracity of the entire KS episode, and lend credence to the claims that the entire thing was a 'setup'.

That would be unfortunate, since it appears that KS did indeed attempt a terrorist attack, regardless of whether he received training in Pakistan for it or not.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

so what do you think AM, even if KS ties are proven, the extent to which US officials especially HC and the media reacted does in no way shows that US considers Pakistan a valuable ally in its fight against the militants and thus its commitment in a long term strategic relation are put to question marks, Such comments discourage the overall efforts made by our Armed Forces and might make Gen Kiani's position a bit weak to take Military Action in NW as many even in Army would see the general in the light of pro Americanism with no real gains just of Pakistan being bashed as center of terrorism and pathetic comments like those of HC.

 

[ajpirzada]

if army launches any NW operation now even if it was planned before, it will be simply seem as taking dictates from US. y doesnt US shut up and try to clear their mess in afghanistan which lead to all this.

discrimination + propaganda + blunders in afghanistan + drone attacks = more such incidents. y not be realistic and try to solve the actual cause instead of manipulating evidence to somehow bring in TTP which btw is no friend of ours.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Republican doubts Taliban link to New York plot​

Photo
6:39am EDT

By Adam Entous and Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee cast doubt on Tuesday on the Obama administration's assertions that the Pakistani Taliban orchestrated the attempted car bombing in New York on May 1.

Senator Kit Bond, after a briefing by U.S. counterterrorism and law enforcement officials, said it was not confirmed the accused bomber -- Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan -- was working for the Islamist group.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Sunday evidence showed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) helped direct the failed attack in New York's teeming Times Square and likely assisted in financing it.

"I am not convinced by the information that I've seen so far that there was adequate, confirmable intelligence to corroborate the statements that were made on Sunday television shows," Bond told reporters after the classified briefing.

"We've heard lots of suspicions and tenuous connections, but as far as I'm concerned you can't make statements prior to getting the intelligence."

Republicans have been openly and repeatedly critical of the handling of terrorism cases by the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, emerged from the same briefing disagreeing with Bond. She said there was a "high likelihood" of interactions between Shahzad and the Pakistani Taliban.

TTP, based in Pakistan's lawless border regions, claimed responsibility on May 2 for the attempted attack.

Shahzad, 30, was arrested trying to flee the United States on a flight to Dubai. He has admitted to the plot and to receiving bomb training in Waziristan, Pakistan, U.S. prosecutors have said.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said later on Tuesday: "There are indications that the TTP was involved in the Times Square attempt." A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on Bond's remarks.

As part of the U.S.-led war against Islamist militants in neighboring Afghanistan, U.S. drone aircraft launched two attacks on a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan, killing at least 24 suspected fighters.

"COMPLETELY UNDER THE RADAR"

U.S. officials initially doubted the TTP claim over the New York plot. But after Shahzad's arrest, Holder came out publicly to say there was a connection.

"The evidence we've now developed shows that the Pakistani Taliban has directed this plot," Holder said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "And I suspect that we are going to come up with evidence which shows that they helped to finance it."

Feinstein expressed concern that Shahzad was "completely under the radar" of law enforcement.

"It's clear we're facing a new kind of attacker, who's already here and able to hide in plain sight, and we need to think about new defenses," she said.

Under pressure from Democrats in the Senate, the State Department said on Tuesday it was looking at adding TTP to the U.S. list of "foreign terrorist" groups.

In New York, the city's police commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters Shahzad knew authorities were pursuing him and tried to leave the country after federal officials leaked information about the investigation.

Shahzad was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in New York minutes before his Emirates Airline flight was to depart. He had eluded law enforcement agents earlier in the day.

Kelly said Shahzad was tipped off by media reports that authorities were hunting for a Pakistani-American identified as the buyer of the sport utility vehicle used to carry a crude bomb made of fuel and fireworks into Times Square.

"There was an inordinate amount of information given out by somebody in this case," Kelly said. "He already knew that we were looking for him. That is not helpful and I think the government has to look internally to see that doesn't happen."

Kelly said the information was not leaked by New York police. The FBI and Justice Department declined to comment.

Since his arrest, Shahzad has been talking with authorities and waived his legal rights.

"Over the past week-and-a-half we have been working to understand everything we can about Shahzad," Kelly said, adding his story was "another classic case of homegrown terrorism."

At an appearance in Oakland, California, Holder told reporters the incident was "troubling but also indicative of what we've seen over the past year."

(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York and Peter Henderson in Oakland; Writing by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Republican doubts Taliban link to New York plot | Reuters

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

I dont put much belief in it as there are alot of twits in it..!!!

The untold story of Khalid Khawaja, Hamid Mir, Mullah Barader and Faisal Shehzad

This looks like a tale of fiction and movies; but this is a real life
drama unfolding in Pakistan around us.

The secret web of betrayal and treachery - The untold story of Khalid
Khawaja, Hamid Mir, Mullah Barader and Faisal Shehzad… Any links
between the three?? Seems impossible! But not in this high stakes
State-sponsored dirty, sinister world of covert ops, double agents,
sting operations and assassinations.

Khalid Khawaja

Hamid Mir

Mullah Barader

Hakeem Ullah Mehsud

Lets start the story:

Americans have been trying to play a sinister game. They had
penetrated into the ranks of Afghan Taliban especially into the
Popalzai tribe and had cultivated a high level Afghan Taliban leader
to be pitched against Mullah Umer. Basically, CIA was creating a
"coup" within Taliban. Hold your breath, sit back and prepare yourself
to know who this secret "CIA asset" within the Taliban was… It was
Mullah Barader! Yes, the same one captured in Karachi by ISI and US is
desperate to have him.

The CIA plan was that Mullah Barader would be brought to Karachi and
then ISI would be tipped to arrest him. Then US were to ask the
custody of the Afghan leader and Pakistan government would hand over
the Afghan Talib leader to US. The result would be catastrophic for
Pakistan as all pro-Taliban elements would then condemn ISI and
Pakistan as CIA puppets and a serious breach of trust and confidence
would appear between Pakistani security establishment and Afghan
Mujahideen. This would also humiliate army and ISI in front of the
nation. CIA and US administration were extremely upset when ISI
refused to hand over Mullah Barader to US, despite the pressure from
Zardari mafia. ISI initially did not know the CIA game. They just
refused to hand over Barader to US and insisted upon their own
interrogation first. Unknowingly, ISI was seriously damaging the US
game plan of staging a coup against Mullah Omar as well as against
ISI. During the interrogation, the entire game became exposed to the
ISI.

The Zardari clan was equally desperate to hand over Barader to US.
Here, enters Khalid Khawaja!

Out of his love for Taliban, unknowingly that he is entering to a
global game of espionage and betrayal, KK filed a petition into the SC
taking a stay order against handing over of Mullah Barader to US. Now
US were furious. KK had signed his death warrant and now was marked
for death.

KK (Khalid Khawaja) had been going to North Waziristan and dealing
with TTP, trying his best to start a reconciliation process between
Pakistan and TTP. He was also aware of the fact that a "Lashkar
Jhangvi" faction of TTP was opposed to these attempts at peace talks.
These include Ilyas Kashmiri gang commonly called Punjabi Taliban.
When KK was returning from talks with Hakim Ullah Mehsud, he was
invited by Punjabi Taliban group and taken prisoner along with Col
Imam and Asad Qureshi, the journalist.

Initially, TTP was unaware of KK and his party's being taken prisoner
by the Punjabi Taliban. Later, when Hakeem Ullah Mehsud came to know
of the drama, he tried to secure the release of the men. But then,
enters another treacherous character from Geo TV.

Hamid Mir, makes a call to the Punjabi Taliban and ask them not to
release KK and instigates them to assassinate KK as a spy! Hamid Mir,
talks to Punjabi Taliban (PT) in detail and this entire conversation
is recorded by the PT and the tape is taken to HakimUllah Mehsud. The
allegations, charges and accusations against KK which were leveled by
Hamid Mir were so severe that HakimUllah Mehsud also fell for the trap
and allowed the execution of KK after making him read the confessional
statement which was exactly what Hamid Mir had dictated to the PT.
This tape is now available and is the most direct incriminating
evidence against Hamid Mir. It is clear that Hamid Mir was launched by
Americans to use his influence on the TTP and PT to get KK
assassinated. It was done with precision, except for one blunder - the
tape is now with Pakistani secret services.

The American desire is to wage a war in North Waziristan against
Haqqani / Afghan Taliban networks. Pakistan army is not willing to do
that. Americans tried to use Mullah Barader to create serious mistrust
and hatred between Afghan Taliban and Pakistan army. That was failed
when Barader was not handed over to US and Khalid Khawaja unknowingly
became a major setback for the Americans when he took a court order
against Barader's extradition. Khalid was trapped and Hamid Mir was
used to mislead TTP into assassinating KK. But in the end, the US plan
of waging a war in North Waziristan fizzles out.

Now a backup plan was required to create reasons to initiate a war
into North Waziristan. - Here enter Faisal Shehzad - a false flag
operation to implicate Pakistani Taliban and then threaten and force
Pakistan to "do more" in North Waziristan! Another Pakistani is
arrested in Chile in the US embassy with traces of explosives on his
luggage and clothes. More Pakistanis are being arrested and a massive
media disinformation war is being launched that all global terrorism
is emerging from Pakistani tribal pocket of North Waziristan and ISI/
army is either hands and gloves with Taliban or nor willing to do
more.

So now, you understand the tone, language and demeanor of Hillary and
US media over Faisal Shehzad! Despite the fact that US army Generals
have confirmed that Faisal had no links with anyone in FATA.

Pakistan was being setup for a possible geopolitical disaster. Allah
protected Pakistan. US and Indians through their assets in Media and
in terrorist groups continue to kick dust and deceive the world and
Pakistani nation. But now, this time at least, their game is exposed.


Article Source

Inter-Services Intelligence.: Beep: The hidden story behind Khalid Khawaja/TTP/Faisal Shahzad/Hamid Mir/Mullah Barader | Facebook