Police scan video footage of Times Square suspects

NEW YORK - Investigators are examining a video of a balding man with dark hair seen removing his shirt along a New York street and another one showing a man running on a street in their attempt to zero in on those behind the failed bombing attempt on Times Square.

The first video, released by authorities, shows a man, who police say is possibly connected to the attempted bombing, changing his shirt and putting it in a bag before walking out of the camera’s view from inside a restaurant in New York.

The authorities are to release another video, obtained from a tourist, in which a person “is seen, we believe, running north on Broadway”, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN’s “American Morning” on Monday.

The investigation was focusing on examinations of a Nissan Pathfinder where the attempted homemade bomb was placed. Police were also combing through hours of surveillance footage in the area for possible clues.

The first video, Kelly said “shows a white male in his 40s, in Shubert Alley, looking back in the direction of West 45th Street” in a “furtive manner”. But Kelly acknowledged that the actions of the man “could be perfectly innocent”.

The video was captured about a half block from where police said the Pathfinder containing bomb-making materials was found Saturday evening on West 45th Street in the city’s landmark Times Square area.

The wide-ranging media coverage of incident also reports on the risk of terrorists focusing on soft targets, and notes that investigators are sceptical about the Pakistan Taliban’s claims of involvement — although the perpetrator remains completely unknown.

Federal and local officials told the New York Times said there was no evidence to support a claim of responsibility issued on Sunday by a Pakistani Taliban group.

The materials found in the SUV Nissan Pathfinder - gasoline, propane, firecrackers and simple alarm clocks - also included eight bags of a granular substance, later determined to be nonexplosive grade of fertilizer, inside a 55-inch-tall metal gun locker.

Had it exploded “it would have been, in all likelihood, a good possibility of people being killed, windows shattered, but not resulting in a building collapse,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman.

Meanwhile, strategic think tank Stratfor said the failed bombing attempt appeared to be the work of an unskilled attacker or group of attackers who had intended to cause mass casualties, but lacked the skills to conduct an effective attack.

Noting several similarities to the attacks in London on June 29, 2007, it said if this failed attack was conducted by grassroots jihadists or a lone wolf, it is likely that the attackers will attempt a follow-on attack unless they are found and apprehended.

The plot to blow up Times Square over the weekend appears less sophisticated than others that authorities have thwarted since the terrorist attacks of Sep 11, 2001, the Wall Street Journal said noting between then and now, there have been at least 10 such attempts to bomb New York City institutions.

If the people aboard the Christmas Eve airliner had a lucky escape when an underwear bomber’s explosive device failed to ignite, effective intelligence and police work have averted disaster in other instances, the report said recalling the October arrest of Headley in Chicago as he was attempting to fly to Pakistan.

“With terror, it’s a small world,” the Journal said noting Headley who changed his given name of Daood Sayed Gilani “has since been linked to the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai”.

Meanwhile, streets in Times Square will open as normal Monday, while police say they plan to increase uniformed patrols to make New Yorkers and tourists feel safer. Some companies with offices in midtown said they would add security Monday.