Failed car bomb was not al-Qaeda plot, says NY mayor

There is no evidence the failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York was the work of al-Qaeda or any other big terrorist group, the city's mayor says.

Michael Bloomberg spoke after police dismissed claims by a Pakistani Taliban group that it was responsible.
Investigators are hunting a middle-aged white man seen removing his shirt near the scene at Times Square on Saturday evening and stuffing it into a bag.

President Barack Obama has vowed the US will track down the perpetrators.
Investigators have been gathering evidence from the Nissan Pathfinder in which the homemade petrol and propane bomb was found.


The engine was still running with hazard lights flashing when the SUV, emitting smoke, attracted the attention of a street vendor.

Police evacuated part of the bustling entertainment district and shut subway lines, while a controlled explosion was carried out.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Sunday the bomb was crude, but could have sparked a "significant fireball".

Another component of the device was a rifle cabinet packed with more than 100lb (45kg) of fertilizer, although police said it was not of a type volatile enough to explode.


Commissioner Kelly said they were looking for an unidentified white man, thought to be in his 40s, who was spotted behaving "furtively" nearby.


CCTV captured the suspect walking down an alley and changing a shirt, while looking back in the direction of the smoking SUV.

Police are also examining a home video taken by a tourist of a man seen near the car.

Police have established that the car's registration plates do not match up with the Nissan.
They belonged to a car owner in the state of Connecticut, who told officers he had sent the plates to a scrap-yard.

A Pakistani Taliban group claimed in a one-minute internet video that it was behind the failed attack.
Tehreek-e-Taliban said the bomb was revenge for the deaths of its leader and the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
But the police commissioner and the mayor cast doubt on the claim.

"There is no evidence that this is tied in with al-Qaeda or any other big terrorist organization," Mr Bloomberg said.


The mayor earlier told reporters New York had avoided what could have been "a very deadly event".


US Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano has said there was so far no evidence that it was more than a "one-off event", but added it was "a potential terrorist attack".


Duane Jackson, the 58-year-old handbag seller who spotted the vehicle, has been hailed as a hero.
The Vietnam War veteran alerted a passing police officer, after noticing the car parked illegally with its keys in the ignition.

"That's when the smoke started coming out and then we heard the little pop, pop, pop - like firecrackers going out," he said.

The New York Police Department has been on constant alert since the 9/11 attacks.
Earlier this year, two men, one an Afghan immigrant, pleaded guilty to a plot to set off suicide bombs in the city's subway system.

And last year four New Yorkers went on trial accused of plotting to bomb synagogues in the city and fire missiles at military aircraft.

Bhutto's party says Musharraf failed to prevent her death

The Pakistan Peoples Party, led by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto before she was slain in 2007, said Saturday it accepts a United Nations commission report into her death and placed blame on former Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf for failing to prevent it.

A three-member U.N. inquiry commission, in a scathing report issued Thursday, said Musharraf's military-led government failed to protect Bhutto and that the suicide bombing that killed her "could have been prevented." The panel said police deliberately failed to pursue an effective investigation into her death.

A core group of PPP members met Saturday to discuss the report, the party said in a statement. Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's current president and Bhutto's widower, presided over the meeting. Those present "considered the U.N. report and accepted it," the Saturday statement said.

"The meeting reiterated that the report has endorsed the party position that Gen. Pervez Musharraf was responsible for the assassination of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto," the PPP statement said, adding that Bhutto "also believed that Gen. Musharraf wanted to eliminate her" and had mentioned it on several occasions.

Bhutto had returned from a self-imposed eight-year exile to run in the country's general elections two months before her assassination and already had escaped one attempt on her life. She was killed in December 2007 by a 15-year-old suicide bomber while campaigning in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, the seat of the country's military.

"No one believes that this boy acted alone," the U.N. report states. "A range of government officials failed profoundly in their efforts first to protect Ms. Bhutto, and second to investigate with vigor all those responsible for her murder, not only in the execution of the attack, but also in its conception, planning and financing."
But the report stops short of identifying a particular culprit.

A spokesman for Musharraf said Friday that the government offered adequate protection for Bhutto. "I believe the government at the time did whatever they thought was reasonable," said Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman and adviser to the former president.

"It was repeatedly stressed [to Bhutto] that she should be careful because of numerous credible threats against her," the spokesman said. "Unfortunately, she did not heed these requests and she went ahead and took part in the procession. The government did take whatever reasonable measures to protect her.
"There's no prescribed standard for maximum or minimum security. The very fact that she deemed it necessary go to a public meeting shows that she herself was satisfied with the level of security the government provided."

Pakistan's government and the CIA blamed the killing on Baitullah Mehsud, a top Pakistani Taliban leader with ties to al Qaeda. Mehsud was killed last year in a suspected U.S. drone strike.

The PPP on Saturday, said spokesman Farhatullah Babar, "reiterated its resolve to expose and bring to justice all those - including Gen. Pervez Musharraf - who planned, abetted and indulged in the criminal acts, screened off the offenders and destroyed the evidence."

He said the party recommended to the prime minister "to take appropriate legal actions in light of the report of the U.N. Inquiry Commission which ... calls upon the competent authorities in Pakistan to make a determination of the criminal responsibility for planning and carrying out the assassination."

The U.N. report found that police failed to preserve evidence at the scene of the bombing and said the investigation "suffered from a lack of commitment to identify and bring all of the perpetrators to justice." In particular, the "pervasive reach" of Pakistan's intelligence agencies left police "unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken," the report states.

Babar said earlier that the report would "lend speed and strength to the domestic investigation that is ongoing."
The U.N. commission's chairman, Chilean U.N. Ambassador Heraldo Munoz, said the panel's role was "fact-finding" and not prosecutorial. Asked whether the failure to protect Bhutto was deliberate, he said, "it is not up to us to make inferences." But he added, "It is clear that warnings were passed on, on various occasions, and Ms. Bhutto received also information in this regard from outside Pakistan.

"Nevertheless, what we have found is that the passing of information was not accompanied by commensurate measures to protect her, particularly given the fact that an assassination attempt had been made against her the very day she returned to Karachi, [Pakistan]," he said.

Nationwide polls conducted shortly after Bhutto's death found that a majority of Pakistanis believed Musharraf's government was complicit in the assassination. Bhutto's supporters took to the streets after her killing. The ensuing riots left 58 dead and more than $200 million in property damage.

Bhutto's return to Pakistan came amid a struggle between the country's political leaders and Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup. At the same time, the country was besieged by a surge of attacks by Islamic extremists.

During Bhutto's first night back in her homeland, a pair of bombs went off near her armored truck, killing 149 people and wounding more than 400.

Further heightening tensions, Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November 2007, suspending the constitution, sacking the country's chief justice for a second time and imposing what amounted to martial law.
Thursday's report criticized the influence of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in the country's government, including efforts to influence elections and the courts. "This pervasive involvement of intelligence agencies in diverse spheres, which is an open secret, has undermined the rule of law, distorted civilian-military relations and weakened some political and law enforcement institutions," the report states. "At the same time, it has contributed to widespread public distrust in those institutions and fed a generalized political culture that thrives on competing conspiracy theories."

The Pakistan Peoples Party went on to win the most number of seats in elections held in 2008, and Musharraf resigned. Zardari asked the United Nations to look into his wife's death after taking office, and he was one of the more than 250 people interviewed by the commission.

Bhutto faced threats from "a number of sources," including al Qaeda, the Taliban and local Islamic militants and "potentially" from Pakistan's ruling establishment, the report states.

Two months before her death, she wrote a letter to Musharraf that identified three people she considered threats to her safety. But Pakistan's government failed to investigate Mehsud, al Qaeda or other organizations that might have been involved, according to the U.N. report.

"Investigators also dismissed the possibility of involvement by elements of the establishment, including the three persons identified by Ms. Bhutto as threats to her in her 16 October 2007 letter to Gen. Musharraf," the report states.

U.N. officials said the question of whether to reopen a criminal investigation into Bhutto's assassination now lies with Pakistan.

"We cannot accuse or absolve anyone," Munoz said. "That is not our task. That is the task of the competent authorities in Pakistan."

U.S. official says intel suggests Iran plans to ship arms to Taliban

New U.S. military intelligence suggests Iran plans to smuggle new shipments of weapons into Afghanistan in the coming weeks as part of an increased effort to interfere with coalition operations, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said Friday.


The information came from an "Iranian source" whose tips on past shipments have been verified by the United States, the official said.

The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information. He also declined to offer more details on the identity of the Iranian source. Intelligence gained by talking to people, sometimes referred to as "human intelligence," is always considered sensitive for fear of compromising sources.
"There are indications the Iranians have stepped it up," the official said.

But another U.S. official said Iran is only providing "limited supplies of weapons to the Taliban ... not enough to cause major problems for coalition forces."

The official also noted that Iran -- a majority Shiite country -- and the Sunni Taliban almost went to war with one another in the late 90s, so it's not really in their interest to be a major source of top-shelf arms to the Taliban.

Earlier this week, however, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Afghanistan he was 'taken aback" when he learned of a "significant shipment" of weapons from Iran into Kandahar in southeastern Afghanistan. Mullen and his aides declined to offer any other details.

And the Defense Department official said the source has told the United States of "volumes of Iranian munitions coming into Afghanistan."

Tehran has consistently denied supporting groups opposed to the Afghan government.
U.S. and coalition troops have seen evidence of some Iranian weapons inside Afghanistan found in seized caches or in the aftermath of attacks. Some munitions have recent manufacturing dates and serial numbers.
"That leads us to believe there are ongoing and current shipments coming into Afghanistan from Iran," the official said.

The Iranian weapons include not only rockets and grenades but also material and explosives to make improvised explosive devices. The official said the United States has found high explosives that are clearly manufactured in Iran with a particular process and design "similar to what we saw with Iranian weapons in Iraq."

The Pentagon official said some of the upcoming shipments might be designated for Kandahar, adding that the U.S. military would do everything it could to stop that from happening. The official indicated it had been several months since coalition forces had seized any weapons shipments at Afghanistan's western border with Iran. Authorities believe shipments are broken up into smaller loads at the border and then brought into the country as unobtrusively as possible by truck convoys.

The issue of just how much Iran is interfering inside Afghanistan remains under debate in the administration's national security circles. Recently, Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused Iran of playing a "double game" in Afghanistan, both aiding the Taliban and more publicly helping finance some public institutions. But he then described Iranian assistance to the Taliban as "pretty low-level."

"We have really not seen an increase of Iranian assistance, whether it's equipment or weapons or training, in western Afghanistan," Gates told reporters on February 22. "We're obviously keeping an eye on it, but it seems pretty modest at this point."

Tiger Woods says, 'I am so sorry' in public apology

In a tightly controlled televised statement, golfer Tiger Woods gave an apology Friday for his "irresponsible and selfish" behavior.

"I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," said the golfer, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a blazer. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry. ...
"I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame."
The 15-minute statement was his first public appearance since his November car crash outside his home near Orlando, Florida -- the beginning of what would become a torrent of bad news for the golfer.

The 11 a.m. ET event, at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, was carefully managed, with a small hand-picked crowd as an audience.
Although some members of the media were invited to listen to Woods' remarks, they were not allowed to ask questions. The large majority of reporters and media were housed at least a half a mile away, where they watched the event on television.
Woods' mother attended, although his wife, Elin Nordegren, did not.


Woods spoke slowly and carefully as he stood at a lectern, which held a few pieces of paper.
After he finished speaking, he embraced his mother and a few others in the audience.
The golfer said he has been in therapy for "issues," which he did not explain. "It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do. I have a long way to go," he said, adding that he is taking the first steps in the right direction.

Responding to rumors, Woods said that his wife never hit him as some media reported in connection with the car crash, and that there has been an episode of domestic violence" in his relationship with his wife.

"Elin deserves praise, not blame," he said. He said the answers to questions as to whether he and his wife will remain together are between a husband and a wife.

The golfer's statement came amid the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Accenture is among the companies that ended its relationship with the 34-year-old superstar.

Accenture spokesman Fred Hawrysh said Thursday that the company did not think Woods' statement would be a distraction to the tournament, which began Wednesday in Dove Mountain, Arizona. Friday's session will begin well after Woods' remarks.

Woods -- who has won the event three times, according to GolfWeek Magazine -- has taken an indefinite break from his professional golfing career.

"I have tremendous confidence in the golf media covering the tournament," Hawrysh said, explaining why he thought the statement wouldn't take away from the golfing event.

Some golfers didn't agree, however. "It's selfish," Ernie Els told GolfWeek. "You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

The highly managed conditions of the statement also prompted the Golf Writers Association of America -- which was invited to have three members present and then later negotiated to have six -- to boycott the event.

The association's president, Vartan Kupelian, said the group was still covering the event, but was simply not present in the room.

We're not going to have the ability to ask questions, as long as we're just going to be standing there like props, there's no point of us being in the room," he told.

Former sportscaster Pat O'Brien criticized the way Woods seemed to be controlling the news conference.

"He might as well have done this on YouTube," O'Brien said Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." "But I do think that he's got to subject himself to some sort of question-and-answer at some point, otherwise people are just going to -- it's already a disaster."

"If you listened to sports talk to radio today, he's just getting ripped to shreds," O'Brien added.
Tiger's agent said the golfer feels many of the issues he is dealing with are private, but he still owes his fans an explanation.

"While Tiger feels that what happened to be fundamentally a matter between him and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him. He besides let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends, and that's what he's going to discuss," Steinberg said.

Woods crashed his black Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and then a tree on November 27, just a few days after the National Enquirer reported he was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess, who denied involvement.

Woods' seemingly perfect world began to crumble a day after he paid his $164 traffic ticket as an avalanche of infidelity allegations surfaced, threatening his 5-year marriage to Nordegren.
The couple has two children, Charlie, 1, and Sam, 2.

Woods issued an apology for "transgressions" that had let his family down, as several women reported they had affairs with the golfer -- including one woman who allegedly had Woods on a voicemail recording asking her to take his name off her cell phone because "my wife went through my phone and may be calling you."

Although AT&T and Accenture ended their relationship with the golfer, other companies, including Nike and Pepsi's Gatorade, continue to sponsor him.

Procter & Gamble's Gillette said it would stop airing commercials featuring the golfer for a while.

Iran Says It Sent Animals Into Space

In what seemed designed as a for show of technological advance, Iran said on Wednesday that it had fired a whiz into breach carrying living organisms — a rat, two turtles further worms, according to the official broadcaster accentuate TV.

The test of what was described because the Kavoshgar-3 rocket, capable of carrying satellites, came as Tehran government faced challenges on abounding fronts.

Iran is preparing to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution in 1979, but factual is locked in a get together camouflage the United States again other powers over its nuclear program, and its leaders are differing the worst political crisis thanks to the revolution direction the wake of persist in June’s flawed presidential elections.

Iran’s missile tactics has prompted worries among Western analysts that substantive is bustle on a weapons delivery system with buried regional consequences. In December, Iran vocal evident test-fired an improved myth of its most latest missile, the Sejil-2, capable of reaching Israel again parts of Europe.

The launch on Wednesday came a day touching the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, suggested his country would support an agreement to export Iran’s low-enriched nuclear fuel , a process supported by the United States further divergent Western countries that seeks to probe off a thing owing to Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments, which were reported by the state-run enlarge TV, appeared to contradict Iran’s negative of the deal a few weeks ago, extending a a disposal of ever-shifting public statements by Iran on whether it would suppose or reject the United Nations-brokered accord. keen officials greeted Mr. Ahmadinejad’sremarks with skepticism.

Earlier, officials prominence Washington said the Obama administration was accelerating the deployment of new defenses condemn possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing marked ships dispatch the Iranian coast and antimissile systems ascendancy at primitive four Arab countries.

Press TV uttered Wednesday that the Kavoshgar, or Explorer, was the questioning of its badge to be launched space in that February 2008 and was carrying an empirical capsule to transfer telemetric data, live pictures and other hot poop to Earth. A second Kavoshgar was launched agency November 2008, Press TV verbal. The pattern launched on Wednesday was described thanks to an updated version of the earlier rockets.

One year ago, Iran said it launched a domestically made telecommunications and research satellite, the Omid, into orbit.

On Wednesday, underscore TV said, the Iranian Aerospace matter said trenchant video transmission from current undertake would “enable further studies on the biological capsule — carrying a rat, two turtles and worms — because evident leaves Earth’s atmosphere and enters space.”

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the opening program was specifically seeing peaceful purposes and Iran would not deduce “any unpeaceful aid of space by any country,” the 18-carat IRNA news agency said.

State television broadcast what indubitable said were images of the Kavoshgar-3 hurtling from a desert go ahead pad, start off a close vapor frame. Before the launch, officials were shown putting what looked like living organisms inside a pill placed dominion the rocket.

Also on Wednesday, Iran unveiled heavier satellite carrier, Simorgh-3, again three other domestically built satellites.

Press TV showed a group of Iranian officials and Mr. Ahmadinejad standing in front of the dispirited and white Simorgh-3 rocket and quoted the Iranian leader for saying his commonwealth had made “miraculous” practical achievements.

Mr. Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying Iran was prepared for technological assist stifle the rest of the world also that Iran’s orientation was “just the start” of a heavier era of development. But, he said, Tehran’s goal was specialized progress, not military confrontation.

Reuters quoted a Press TV broadcast through saying the get going on Wednesday was the first to carry “a living thing.”

“This was a huge breakthrough,” President Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. “And we avowal we can send our grant astronauts into space soon.”

After months of unsuccessful diplomatic overtures, the Obama administration is seeking broad international second owing to sanctions castigate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which Western nations say controls a abstruse nuclear arms program. Tehran says its nuclear program is seeing benevolent purposes only.

President Obama, ascendancy his State of the Union address, warned of “consequences” if Iran remote to defy United Nations demands to stop manufacturing nuclear fuel. outlive Friday, Secretary of mark out Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly warned China that its opposition to sanctions castigate Iran was shortsighted.