'Times Square was not sole target'
Bomb suspect reveals during probe that he had thought of other landmarks as well
New York: While sequestered in a New York hotel room, the Times Square bomb suspect revealed he had thought about targeting other landmarks and asked investigators why the bomb he built failed to go off, people familiar with the probe said on Wednesday.
Faisal Shahzad said he considered attacking Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Centre in midtown Manhattan, the World Financial Centre near ground zero and Sikorsky Inc. — a defence contractor with an office in his Connecticut hometown — before deciding to abandon a sports utility vehicle rigged with a homemade bomb in Times Square on May 1, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
A person familiar with the case said on Wednesday that during more than two weeks of questioning, the suspect also expressed surprise that the device — a mishmash of fireworks, gasoline canisters, propane tanks and fertiliser — did not detonate. The suspect said he thought the fireworks would trigger a chain-reaction that would rupture the tanks and create a deadly fireball, the person said.
Shahzad, who authorities say has claimed he received explosives training in Pakistan, even asked interrogators to explain why the device failed.
Shahzad left the vehicle on West 45th Street on a spring Saturday evening amid hundreds of people enjoying the tourist haven, prosecutors said. The attempted bombing prompted a massive police response, but no one was hurt.
Experts said the bomb had been poorly constructed with a nest of wires, battery-operated alarm clocks and heavy bags of fertiliser that couldn't explode.
