NY mayor: no links between car bomb plot and terror organizations
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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Sunday that there is no evidence the failed car bomb attack on Times Square on Saturday was tied in with al-Qaeda or any other major terrorist organizations.
The mayor made the remarks at a press briefing on Times Square before having dinner with a hero cop in the incident, a mounted policeman who rushed to the scene on tips from a roadside vendor and prompted an emergency evacuation of the area.
The mayor stressed that New York is a safe city with an excellent police force, and people are still coming to Times Square, the so-called "Crossroads of the World," to have fun.
At an earlier press briefing at the police headquarters on Sunday afternoon, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly also said there was no evidence to support an Internet claim by Taliban in Pakistan that they were responsible for the homemade explosive device discovered in a smoking sports utility vehicle (SUV) abandoned on Times Square on Saturday evening.
International terrorist groups had also claimed responsibility for earlier incidents in the United States that turned out not to be terrorist acts, Kelly pointed out.
At about 6:30 PM local time Saturday, a T-shirt peddler alerted police of a suspicious, smoking Nissan Pathfinder SUV on Times Square, a famous tourist attraction, which led to an evacuation of visitors. Bomb squad officers later discovered propane gas tanks, fireworks and timing devices in the car.
Times Square reopened to vehicle and pedestrian traffic on Sunday, but U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said authorities are "alerting state and local law enforcement authorities, and others to stay on their toes."
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