Do not pass go
A 30-year-old
naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan was pulled off a flight to Dubai
and arrested at JFK airport in New York just before midnight for
allegedly driving the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder he reportedly purchased
several weeks ago with $1,800 in cash into Times Square in a failed car
bombing (NYT, BBC,
CNN, Reuters, Wash Post, WSJ, CNN, ABC).
Faisal Shahzad, who became a U.S. citizen on April 17, 2009, had
recently returned from a five-month trip to Peshawar, and has family
ties to Karachi, though had reportedly been living with his wife, Huma
Mian, and two young children just outside Bridgeport, Connecticut (NYT, AP).
Shahzad will
appear in federal court in Manhattan later today, and investigators are
pursuing "growing indications of a possible international" link, though
officials caution that does not mean "an established connection to a
known terrorist group" (Wash Post, NYT). Pakistani officials have promised their
assistance and cooperation in the case (Reuters). Attorney General Eric Holder's statement
on Shahzad's arrest is available here (AP).
Although a
commander for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group had claimed
responsibility for the failed car bombing in a message released over the
weekend, the TTP's official spokesman, Azam Tariq, told reporters in
Peshawar, "We don't know about this video. As far as I know, none of our
people have posted the video" (ToI). Analysts and officials are also skeptical of
the TTP's involvement in the plot (McClatchy).
War in Waziristan
A German convert to Islam who was
wanted by German police on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist cell
was reportedly killed in a battle with Pakistani troops in Waziristan on
April 30, the fourth German jihadist to have died in the region (Spiegel, Daily Times, AP, DW). Eric Breininger, 22, was reportedly involved
with the Islamic Jihad Union, an Uzbek militant group.
Pakistani
security forces have given members of the Swat Taliban until tomorrow to
surrender, or else have their houses destroyed and their relatives
expelled from the area (Daily Times). Officials now say that drone strikes
in northwest Pakistan over the last two years have killed "more than
500" militants and "fewer than 30" civilians, and Pakistani industry
insiders are reportedly "furious" at the Pentagon's offer to give
Pakistan unarmed surveillance drones, calling them "old" (Reuters, ET). There have now been as many reported drone
strikes so far in 2010 as there were in all of 2008 (NAF).
The
sentencing
The sentence for the only surviving gunman in
the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008, who was found guilty
yesterday in a special Indian court, is due on Thursday (NYT, AJE, AFP, Hindu, The
News, Reuters). The prosecution argues that Ajmal Kasab
should be executed by hanging, but he could receive life in prison.
Looking forward
Ahead of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Washington next week, top U.S.
and NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal called the
Afghan leader a "very reliable partner" and observed that the trip will
be watched by the Taliban (WSJ). Karzai's advisers say one of his main goals
for the visit will be getting U.S. President Barack Obama's support for
his plans to negotiate with militant leaders (Wash Post). Yesterday, Karzai appointed a new chief
for Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission (Pajhwok).
850 more U.S. military personnel
are headed to Afghanistan to train Afghan security forces in order to
"help facilitate [U.S.] allies in providing a longer-term answer" to the
shortage of trainers, according to a Pentagon spokesman (NYT). NATO commanders are reportedly considering
awarding troops for exercising "courageous restraint" in not using force
that could endanger civilians (AP). And the AFP has an interesting profile of a
would-be suicide bomber who switched his allegiance and now works as an
Afghan policeman (AFP).
Drones
humor (?)
At last weekend's White House Correspondents
Dinner, Obama commented, "Jonas Brothers are here, they're
out there somewhere. Sasha and Malia
are huge fans, but boys, don't get any ideas. Two words for you:
Predator drones. You will never see it coming" (Wash Post, ABC). The joke has drawn some criticism (Atlantic).
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