NY bomber lost get-away car keys

2010-05-06 19:16

New York - The man who tried igniting a car bomb in Times Square last week made a dry run and left a getaway car, but his preparations collapsed when he forgot to take the second vehicle's key, media reports said on Thursday.

The new details about the botched attack on Saturday emerged in US newspapers as the main suspect, Faisal Shahzad, spent a third day with interrogators in New York.

A law enforcement source, who asked not to be identified, said the Pakistani-born US citizen was unlikely to be presented before a judge on Thursday.

No explanation was given for the delay, although a suspect can waive his right to a quick appearance after arrest.

Shahzad's alleged bomb attempt on one of the busiest streets in Manhattan has shaken the country and sparked fears of a new wave of jihadist militancy involving US passport holders.

But fresh details emphasised how the alleged would-be killer's mission became a fiasco, despite attempts to plan carefully.

The bumbling suspect - who allegedly claims to have trained in the Waziristan region of Pakistan - made a dry run to Times Square on Wednesday last week, the Daily News quoted unnamed sources saying.

Walking calmly

Then on the eve of the attack he drove a white Isuzu from his Connecticut rented apartment and positioned it as his getaway car a short walk from Times Square.

The next night, Saturday, Shahzad allegedly crammed a recently bought Nissan Pathfinder with his home made bomb, parked in Times Square and attempted to ignite the device.

Video footage shows him walking calmly away from the vehicle, US media reports said.

The bomb, however, was so poorly constructed that it did nothing beyond fizzling. Smoke inside the Nissan was noticed by a nearby street vendor who alerted police.

Meanwhile the would-be bomber realised that the keys to his escape car had been forgotten in the Nissan, where they would shortly be discovered by the bomb squad.

So he took the train home to Bridgeport, Connecticut and, incredibly, returned to the Isuzu the next day with a spare set of keys, the New York Post reported.

On Monday he drove that Isuzu to John F Kennedy Airport, along with a firearm initially described by officials as a pistol.

However, it has since emerged that the weapon was a Kel-Tec Sub Rifle 2000, which uses pistol ammunition, but has the form of a rifle, with a folding stock for easy concealment.

Legally purchased

The fast-firing gun could have caused considerable havoc in the packed streets around Times Square, had the suspect been ready to face return fire from police.

The weapon was legally purchased at a gun store in Connecticut in March, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told Congress on Wednesday.

At JFK airport, authorities finally caught up with the amateurish fugitive. He purchased a ticket to Dubai and managed to board the plane but was pulled off just before departure.

The bomb itself consisted of over-the-counter materials that had the potential to cause damage, but which the alleged culprit failed to connect properly.

The intelligence think tank Stratfor said "that none of these three forms of explosive and incendiary materials detonated indicates that the bomb maker was likely a novice and had problems with the design of his firing chain".

However, the apparent ease with which the low-tech attempt was made highlights the problems with fighting that type of attack, Stratfor said.

"The fact that Shahzad was apparently able to collect all of the materials, construct an IED (even a poorly designed one) and manoeuvre it to the intended target without being detected exhibits considerable progress along the attack cycle," the think tank said.

- AFP