U.S. working closely with Pak on Times Square bomb case

The U.S. is working closely with Pakistan to unearth the terrorist plot around the Times Square car bomb case, as possible Pakistani links emerge in the probe, the State Department said today.

“We are working closely with the government of Pakistan regarding the ongoing investigation of the bomb plot in Times Square,” Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley told reporters at his daily press briefing.

Federal authorities have arrested Pakistan-born US national Faisal Shahzad, 30, on charges of planting a car bomb in New York City.

Shahzad was arrested at the John F Kennedy airport on Saturday when he had boarded a flight to Dubai with Islamabad being his final destination.

He is the reportedly the son of a retired air vice marshal of Pakistan Air Force and had spent several months in Pakistan, before coming to the US about two months ago.

“We appreciate Pakistan’s pledge of full cooperation,” Mr. Crowley said referring to the cooperation being received by the Pakistani authorities in this case.

Mr. Crowley, however, refused to divulge details about visa issued to Shahzad by State Department in the past, before he received a US passport last year.

Neither did he confirm that authorities in Pakistan have made any arrest there in connection with the case.

“You know, we value our relationship with Pakistan. We value the fact that there are many Pakistanis who have come to this country, have links to Pakistan and have become citizens of this country. We’re very proud of them. They enrich us as a society,” he said in response to a question.

“We have very close law enforcement and intelligence relationships, you know, with Pakistan.

“I think you can see at least, circumstantially by the reporting in the last hour or two that, Pakistan takes this shared threat seriously and is already taking action in response to the information that -- or what we’ve seen over the past four days,” he said.