THE man arrested for plotting a car-bombing in New York’s Times Square has appeared in a video announcing a “revenge” attack on the US.
“This attack on the US will be a revenge for all the mujaheddin . . . and oppressed Muslims, (including the dead al-Qa’ida in Iraq leader) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,” Faisal Shahzad said on al-Arabiya television .
The recording, the authenticity of which could not immediately be confirmed, was made in English and had an Arabic voiceover.
“I will carry this attack on their behalf, and I hope that it will please Muslims,” the Pakistani-American said in the first video linking him to the failed May 1 bomb plot and al-Qa’ida.
“With jihad, the basis of Islam can be enforced and the word of Allah and his religion will prevail. Abandoning jihad destroys the religion and puts Muslims in an insulting position as they get robbed of land and authority.”
Dressed like an Afghan fighter with a black turban and trimmed beard, Shahzad appeared in a video that carried the “Umar Media” brand, with an AK-47 rifle apparently added by video editing to his left.
“Eight years have passed since the war in Afghanistan. You will see that the Muslims’ war has just started, and we will tell you how Islam will spread all over the world,” he said, reading at some point from a book.
Dubai-based al-Arabiya said the video was 40 minutes long. It said Shahzad had appeared in the video with Faqir Mohammed, the Taliban leader in Pakistan’s region of Bajaur, but that this part of the footage was not aired.
Shahzad, 30, who has been charged with international terrorism, allegedly drove a Nissan four-wheel-drive vehicle crammed with a large but malfunctioning bomb into Manhattan’s busiest neighbourhood, as thousands of people flocked to theatres and tourist attractions.
He was later arrested just before his flight left New York’s JFK airport, and 53 hours after police found the homemade bomb smouldering in the Nissan SUV parked outside a theatre staging the musical The Lion King.
The notorious Zarqawi, who orchestrated a campaign of attacks and beheadings, was killed north of Baghdad in a US airstrike in 2006 after long eluding capture as Iraq’s most wanted fugitive.
News reports at the time of Shahzad’s arrest said he lived in Connecticut and had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan where he had visited the city of Peshawar, a known jumping-off point for al-Qa’ida and Taliban recruits.
The only group to have claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing was the Pakistani militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban.
New York has been on constant watch for potential attacks since those of September 11, 2001, that destroyed the World Trade Centre, killing almost 3000 people.
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