US probing Faisal Shahzad's links to Afghanistan-Pakistan border

As evidence mounted of involvement of Pakistani Taliban in the Times Square bombing plot, with reports that the suspect had meetings with the group's bomb-maker Qari Hussain, US investigators have now shifted focus to tracing the links to the volatile Af-Pak border.

The US probe is now focussing on unearthing the Taliban and other militant links to the plot following revelations by Faisal Shahzad that he attended a terrorist training camp in Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

"A big part of that ongoing investigation is to evaluate where he was and what he was doing during his time in Pakistan," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

Gibbs said justice department and investigating agencies
are actively looking at the time which Shahzad, son of a retired Pakistani Air Vice Marshal, spent in Pakistan and New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly said a team was dispatched to Karachi, where several people have been arrested in connection with the case. 

US president Barack Obama met his National Security Team
which includes, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Defence
Secretary Robert Gates to discuss in depth the Pakistani links
to terror attacks in America.

The US ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson has held
discussions with president Asif Ali Zardari and top Pakistani
cabinet ministers about the search for leads in the US
investigations.

The Obama administration is preparing to push Pakistan for harder action against dreaded outfits like LeT, Taliban, al-Qaeda and Haqqani network, fearing that these groups are aiming to spread their terror footprints to the country, US media reports said.

'Washington Post' said that US administration was preparing to deliver to Pakistan detailed request for "urgent and specific" assistance on the case by the end of the week. 

The main fear rankling the US investigators is whether Shahzad acted alone, had outside help or was acting on behalf of a larger group either in Pakistan or elsewhere. 

In his last trip to Pakistan, Fox News quoting Pakistani officials said that Shahzad was introduced to Qari Hussain, the Number 3 in the top tier leadership of the Pakistani Taliban, the organisation's bomb maker and suicide trainer.

'The New York Times' quoted officials as saying there were strong indications that Shahzad knew other key members of Pakistani Taliban and the group had a role in training him. 

According to charges filed in the court, Shahzad has admitted to receiving bomb making training in Waziristan.

Krishna said the government always sees to it that the US is kept informed about its concerns over such transactions "and how there is always a lurking danger hanging on our head".

He said, "the US government has assured us that our concerns would be kept in mind while giving such assistance and that the use of such assistance would be monitored."

At the same time, he said, "India has not opposed assistance being provided to Pakistan to help it combat terrorism. In regard to supply of drones to Pakistan, Indian government has commented that the US government was free to supply military hardware to Pakistan as long as it was not directed against us".