Following a major bomb scare in New York’s bustling Times Square on Saturday, police were reported to be examining a surveillance video showing a man removing his shirt and glancing back in the direction of the vehicle that contained the bomb.
The video, released by the New York Police Department, shows an unidentified white man walking down an alley and stopping briefly to remove his shirt. The man, who was wearing a red shirt underneath, is then seen looking backwards in the direction of the Nissan Pathfinder vehicle which was giving out smoke. He is then seen placing his first shirt in a bag and walking away.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a television interview cautioned that “the person on the tape may not become a suspect”. He said there were virtually millions of people that come through Times Square and “this person happened to be in a position in which a camera got a good shot of him”. He added it was possible this individual had something to do with the bomb but there was “a very good chance that he did not”.
No evidence to support Taliban claim
Police also addressed reports of videos posted to the Internet over the weekend, apparently suggesting that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the planned attack. At a press conference Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said, “Although a Taliban bomb-maker has claimed on the internet that the car bomb was placed in Times Square to avenge the deaths of Mujahideen fighters, we have no evidence to support this claim.”
Mr. Kelly added that though they had not yet determined whether the car bomb was linked to “any specific terrorist organisation,” they were working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation through the Joint Terrorism Task force. He noted, “Our investigators have developed leads that may assist us in identifying the individual responsible for the attempted car bombing in Times Square last night.”
Mr. Bloomberg similarly reiterated there was “no legitimate evidence” of a link to al-Qaeda, the Taliban or any other militant group. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano mentioned in a media interview that nothing had been ruled out yet, and “Right now, every lead has to be pursued… I caution against premature decisions one way or another.”
Providing a few more details regarding the explosive device itself Mr. Kelly said, “In essence our initial take is that it is incendiary in nature… Of course if this had detonated, in my judgement, would have caused casualties with a significant fireball. I am told that the vehicle itself would have been cut in half. You have large numbers of pedestrians in that area so yes, we were lucky that it did not detonate.”
