Asia-Pacific

Times Square bomb suspect indicted in New York

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-18 06:25

NEW YORK - The man suspected of trying to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square on May 1 was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday.

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Pakistani-born Faisal Shahzad, who became a US citizen last year, has been indicted on 10 charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted terrorism transcending national borders.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

"(The) 10-count indictment returned in the Southern District of New York charges Faisal Shahzad with conspiring with the Pakistani Taliban to wreak death and destruction in Times Square," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

Shahzad's attorney, Philip Weinstein, would not comment on the indictment.

Shahzad, 30, is accused of parking a vehicle containing a crude car bomb in Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. He was arrested aboard a Dubai-bound jetliner two days later. He did not enter a plea during his first court appearance on May 18.

Prosecutors said Shahzad, who has a wife and two children in Pakistan, had traveled to a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan to receive bomb-making training.

The Pakistani Taliban, called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing.

Shahzad lived in the neighboring state of Connecticut and had returned recently to the United States after spending several months in Pakistan.

Several people have been arrested in Pakistan in the case and US authorities carried out raids in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maine, detaining several people.