Pak now has two of Shahzad’s ‘collaborators’ in custody: US official

ISLAMABAD - At least two men suspected of having helped fund Faisal Shahzad, the man behind the botched Times Square bombing plot are currently in custody of Pakistani authorities, a top US military official has said.

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, the official revealed that the Pakistani authorities have detained at least two suspects in connection with providing money to Shahzad, The Daily Times reports.

Earlier, media reports said that Pakistan has arrested a man, who claims to have helped Shahzad.

“The suspect in Pakistani custody is believed to have a connection to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Clues have added to authorities’ understanding of the plot, but what is definitely true is that a lot of this comes from the statements of people directly involved,” The Washington Post had quoted a US intelligence official, who refused to be named, as saying.

U.S. officials declined to identify the suspect, but said American investigators have direct access to him, and described him as a facilitator for the TTP.

Officials privy to the probe said the suspect, during interrogation, described the whole story about the Shahzad’s arrival in Karachi last year and his travel north to Waziristan for training with elements of the Pakistani Taliban.

However, some other US official, briefed on the investigations said there are some “conflicts and disconnects” in the accounts of Shahzad and the man in custody.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said no “formal” arrests have been made concerning the May 1 New York terror plot.

“I would like to tell you that there has not been any formal arrest by us,” Malik said when asked whether Pakistani agencies have detained any accomplice of Shahzad. (ANI)