Federal authorities have identified a person of interest in the investigation into New York’s Times Square bomb plot, described as a naturalized American citizen who recently returned from Pakistan, Fox News confirmed today.
Associated Press, quoting two law enforcement officials, reported that he is the man who purchased the SUV involved in the attempted bombing.
The person is a naturalized American citizen who was in Pakistan for several months and returned to the United States recently, investigative sources told Fox News, though the person’s identity has not been made public. ABCNews.com reported that he is originally from Pakistan.
MORE: TEEN WHO SOLD SUV USED IN TERROR SCARE SHOCKED
The news came as a FBI-led task force took over the case as it became more likely that there were connections to overseas terrorism, according to the Washington Post.
The NYPD was leading the investigation before the Joint Terrorism Task Force stepped in.
Forensic evidence turned up in the Nissan Pathfinder that was found Saturday in Times Square pointed in that direction, sources told The Post. For instance, one of the bomb clocks was foreign-made.
Also, Rep. Peter King of Long Island, ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the investigation has turned up some evidence of foreign involvement in the failed bombing attempt.
PHOTOS: TIMES SQUARE BOMB SCARE
TIMES SQUARE HERO COP WINED & DINED BY MAYOR
“It very well could be a group in this country that is connected to al Qaeda,” King told The Post.
“As the investigation is going on today … they may be coming up with something which indicates an overseas connection. I think it is something they are finding in the U.S. that could indicate some connection to overseas,” he said.
The Washington Post earlier today reported that the botched car bombing appears to have been coordinated by several individuals with foreign ties.
“Don’t be surprised if you find a foreign nexus … They’re looking at some tell-tale signs and they’re saying it’s pointing in that direction,” a senior White House official told the Washington Post this afternoon.
But these sources told the Washington Post that this doesn’t mean al-Qaeda or another terrorist group is involved.
A Pakistani-based Taliban group claimed credit for the attack in an Internet video on Sunday, but Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that police had no evidence to support that claim.
The possible link to foreign terrorism came during a day of rapid developments in the investigation.
— The last registered owner of the Nissan Pathfinder found Saturday in Times Square loaded with explosives has told authorities he recently sold the car on Craigslist for $1,300 in cash to a “Middle Eastern” or “Hispanic” looking man, CBS News reported.
Quoting “sources,” CBS said the mystery buyer reportedly paid in $100 bills.
The original owner is not considered a suspect in the case.
CBS said the vehicle identification number had been removed from the car’s dashboard but was still stamped on the engine and axle.
— The White House for the first time clearly declared the incident a terrorist act.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the SUV loaded with explosives was “intended to terrorize.”
— Attorney General Eric Holder said today that investigators had made “substantial progress” in the probe and that those involved would eventually be caught.
“I think that we have made really substantial progress,” Holder told reporters, adding that “ultimately this investigation will be successful and the people responsible for that attempt will be found and brought to justice.”
Cops have said that the gasoline-and-propane bomb could have sprayed shrapnel and metal parts with enough force to kill pedestrians on Saturday night.
Police have asked the public today if they have any video from the moments leading up to the discovery of the bomb in a bid to identify the man who planted the deadly device.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said investigators haven’t ruled out any suspects, including foreign terrorist organizations, in the case.
“Right now, every lead has to be pursued,” Napolitano told NBC’s “Today” show. “I caution against premature decisions one way or another.”
The top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King (R-LI) said there was no intelligence chatter before or conversation after the car was found — but warned that that all possibilities must be considered.
The NYPD released images Sunday, showing the SUV snaking through thousands of unsuspecting bystanders at the corner of 45th and Broadway at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Moments later, its driver leaped out — leaving the motor running and the hazard lights on. And within minutes, two vendors heard the pop-pop-pop of M88s and saw smoke seeping out of the SUV.
They alerted a mounted cop, and a massive evacuation began at the Crossroads of the World.
Authorities said the SUV was carrying a propane-and-fertilizer bomb powerful enough to trigger a “significant fireball” and hurl shrapnel through the tens of thousands of people in the vicinity, killing or maiming hundreds.
“The vehicle itself would have been cut in half” by the explosion, Kelly said on Sunday. “Clearly, it was the intent of whoever did this to cause mayhem, to create casualties.”
But the fertilizer — eight bags, totaling 100 pounds, purchased at a grocery store — was not “explosive grade” and wouldn’t have produced “the kind of devastation associated with ammonium nitrate bombs” like the kind that demolished the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, said Browne.
“Had [the propane and gas] gone off, it would have … produced a fireball” that likely would have “resulted in people being killed, windows being shattered, but not resulted in a building collapse or major structural damage,” he said.
Detectives are looking into whether the botched attack may be linked to a warning issued last month by Revolution Muslim — a radical Islamic group based in Queens — following last month’s 200th episode of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s “South Park,” which included a caricature of the Prophet Mohammad disguised in a bear suit.
With AP and Reuters