Investigation into failed bomb plot goes global as Faisal Shahzad is charged in New York
Pakistani law enforcement officials have reportedly arrested several people in Karachi in connection with the failed plot to detonate explosives in Times Square. Those arrested include a friend of Faisal Shahzad, the American citizen of Pakistani origin currently in U.S. custody. So far, no charges have been filed against any of the people arrested in Pakistan and the country’s Interior Minister, Rehman Mali, says officials there are still working “to see whether it was an individual act or if it was a collective kind of act.” U.S. authorities say Shahzad had recently returned to the U.S. after a five-month stay in Pakistan, prompting speculation he may have ties to al-Qaida or Taliban groups. Shahzad is said to have admitted receiving bomb-making training in the militant strongholds of western Pakistan, according to a criminal complaint filed on Tuesday. The 30-year-old was charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and several related crimes, though he told authorities after his arrest he had acted alone.