Faisal Shahzad, Times Square Bombing Suspect, Charged With Terrorism

Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square bombing attempt, confessed to receiving explosives training in Pakistan, the government says.

Prosecutors say Shahzad, 30, also admitted buying an SUV, rigging it with a homemade bomb and driving it Saturday into Times Square, where he tried to detonate it, according to The Associated Press.

Shahzad, a U.S. citizen from Pakistan,
has been charged with terrorism and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Shahzad was arrested overnight at John F. Kennedy International Airport after being removed from a plane about to take off for Dubai. Federal officials had placed him on a "no-fly" list hours before his arrest. A criminal complaint was filed Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Manhattan.

Shahzad said he was trained to make bombs in Waziristan, the tribal region where the Pakistani Taliban is prevalent, the complain says. According to the complaint, Shahzad returned from Pakistan in February, telling an immigration agent that he had been visiting his parents for five months and had left his wife behind. There was no mention of al-Qaeda.

"Based on what we know so far, it is clear that this was a terrorist plot aimed at murdering Americans in one of the busiest places in our country," Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington. (Read a transcript of the news conference).

Officials plan to arraign Shahzad Wednesday morning, CBS News reported. A court appearance Tuesday was delayed, in part because he was cooperating with authorities.

The White House said that joint terrorism task force agents and New York City police initially questioned Shahzad under the public safety exception to the Miranda rule. After federal agents determined there was no imminent threat to public safety, Shahzad was later "Mirandized" and continued to talk to investigators, officials said.

In Washington, President Obama said the FBI is investigating to determine whether the suspect has any links to terrorist organizations. "Justice will be done," the president vowed. He praised New Yorkers for living with "heads held high" and said the incident was "another sober reminder of the times we live in." But Obama said Americans "will not be terrorized. We will not cower in fear, we will not be intimidated."

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Shadzad told the authorities he acted alone, according to a law enforcement official. However, the investigation is continuing. The Washington Post reported that in Pakistan, authorities arrested at least two people in connection with the Times Square bombing attempt. An official said one of those arrested reportedly traveled to the United States in recent months to meet with Shahzad.

Shahzad was described in the Justice Department press release as being a native of Pakistan who had become a naturalized U.S. citizen and lived in Bridgeport, Conn. According to ABC News, Shahzad had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he spent time in Peshawar, which is a jumping-off point for would-be jihadists seeking to join to the Taliban or al-Qaeda.

Initially, a video surfaced in which a terrorist group known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attempted car bombing in New York City, but on Monday Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq phoned journalists based in Peshawar to disown any knowledge of it.

"We don't know about this video," Azam Tariq said. "As far as I know, none of our people have posted the video. We have no information about it."

What is known is that the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder loaded amateurishly with propane tanks and fertilizer and left smoldering in Times Square on Saturday night left clues that led authorities to Shahzad. The vehicle was quickly traced to a Pathfinder recently sold in Bridgeport to a man who answered an ad on Craigslist. The transaction was cash only, and the seller apparently didn't know the name of the buyer. The Times reported that authorities found Shahzad through the e-mail address he had given the seller.

The suspect and his wife were described by a former neighbor in Shelton, Conn., as a quiet couple who spoke little English and kept mostly to themselves. The neighbor, Brenda Thurman, told Times that the couple had two children.

The White House said President Obama was informed of the arrest shortly after midnight. He was briefed half a dozen times on the investigation Monday by John Brennan, top adviser to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. He also made personal phone calls to thank two street vendors who spotted the suspicious vehicle and also the two police officers who first responded and began evacuating the area.