Arrest Made over Times Square Car Bomb Plot

A bomb made up of propane tanks, fertilizer and gasoline failed to detonate inside the SUV. Photo by Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

A U.S. citizen has been arrested in the Times Square bombing probe, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced early Tuesday.

Faisal Shahzad was arrested at JFK airport in New York as he prepared to board a flight to Dubai, Holder said.

"It is clear the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans," Holder said, as cited by CNN. "We will not rest until we bring everyone responsible to justice."

Law enforcement officials said the suspect is the person who bought the Nissan Pathfinder used in the bombing attempt.

Earlier, a law enforcement official said the buyer is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, and that investigators are looking at more than one person in connection with the unsuccessful bombing.

CNN has learned that the Joint Terrorism Task Force investigating the bombing attempt is considering the possibility that the attempt involved more than just a "lone wolf."

According to a source familiar with the investigation, investigators believe the plan was an intended terrorist attack to set off explosives in the heart of midtown Manhattan on Saturday night, but the individuals didn't have the expertise to detonate their device.

The Nissan Pathfinder had been sold three weeks ago in a cash deal with no paperwork exchanged, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN earlier Monday. The USD 1,800 deal was closed at a Connecticut shopping mall, where the buyer handed over the money and drove off, the source said.

The seller described the buyer as a man in his late 20s to early 30s, and investigators are checking into phone records between the two, the source said.

A bomb made up of propane tanks, fertilizer and gasoline failed to detonate inside the SUV. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the device could have produced "a significant fireball" in the heart of Midtown Manhattan on Saturday night had it detonated properly.

Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud appeared on a video released less than 24 hours after the attempt, claiming Taliban fighters were prepared to inflict "extremely painful blows" in major U.S. cities.

But a senior U.S. military official said there was no "credible evidence" at the early stages of the investigation that the Pakistani Taliban was responsible for the Times Square bomb incident.

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