PAKISTAN: Mixed reactions to arrest of suspected New York car bomber

Record ID: 614393

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Mixed reactions to arrest of suspected New York car bomber
  • Date: 5th May 2010
  • Summary: PEOPLE CARRYING FOOD FROM TAKEAWAY OUTLET (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) MURTAZA HASAN, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT, SAYING: "We should not believe anything without evidence. If they (U.S authorities) say that he (Faisal Shahzad) is a Muslim and a Pakistani, we as Pakistanis and Muslims should ask them for proof. We should ask them: 'What evidence do you have that he did this?' Without evi
  • Embargoed: 20th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7XVVVJ1CMUK74V9PIPIURZKPX
  • Story Text: Pakistanis on Tuesday (May 4) were bewildered by the arrest of a Pakistani-American man for allegedly driving a bomb-laden car into New York's Times Square last Saturday (May 1).
    Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was arrested around midnight on Monday (May 3) at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai, local and federal officials said.
    Shahzad, 30, is believed to have bought the 1993 Nissan sport utility vehicle used to carry the crude bomb made of fuel and fireworks into Times Square as the theatre and shopping area was packed with people on a warm Saturday evening.
    Had the bomb detonated, many people could have died, officials said.
    The Taliban in Pakistan said on Sunday (May 2) it planted the bomb to avenge the killing in April of al-Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq as well as U.S. interference in Muslim countries.
    But many Pakistanis were sceptical about the claim.
    "We are not terrorists. We have said this before - and we say it now with full conviction - that we are not terrorists. We condemn terrorism; we very strongly condemn terrorism. However, as far as America is concerned, as long as it continues to interfere in our matters, then obviously the Taliban forces will also want to interfere in their matters," said Umar Dad Khan, a tribal trader who was in Islamabad on a business trip.
    "We request both the forces, the Taliban as well as the United States, to please try to resolve matters through dialogue, not through warfare," Khan added.
    Law enforcement sources in the United States told Reuters that Saturday's attempted attack may have involved more than one person and could have international ties.
    The New York Times said Shahzad had recently returned from a trip to Pakistan.
    Some Pakistanis were unconvinced and said their government should ask the U.S. for proof of the man's credentials and his guilt.
    "We should not believe anything without evidence. If they (U.S. authorities) say that he (Faisal Shahzad) is a Muslim and a Pakistani, we as Pakistanis and Muslims should ask them for proof. We should ask them: 'What evidence do you have that he did this?' Without evidence we should not trust their words, because they can go to any lengths to implicate us (in acts of terrorism)," said Murtaza Hasan, a chartered accountant in an Islamabad firm who had spent three years in the United States studying accountancy.
    However, many Pakistanis said their countrymen should not allow themselves to get trapped into acts of violence - wittingly or unwittingly - because they were bringing a bad name to their country through their actions.
    "Around the world we are known as bad people, and to do that it really adds on to it; it doesn't lessen anything like that. (They) shouldn't do that. It really, you know, embarrasses me and the rest of Pakistanis, I guess. Shouldn't do that. It shouldn't happen here, and it definitely shouldn't happen abroad," said Bilal Ali, a university student of Islamabad.
    In Karachi, resident Mohammad Azam, claimed the suspect was innocent and his detention would harm Washington's image internationally.
    "We, being Pakistanis, we strongly protest (to) them that this tyranny in the U.S. must come to end. Arresting innocent people portrays an oppressive image of the United States rather than an image of a free state," he said.
    Shahzad will appear in a Manhattan federal court later on Tuesday to face charges.
    Pakistan is a key ally to the United States and other NATO countries fighting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan but is also seen as a training ground for Islamist militants.
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