Pakistan and the US to cooperate in Time Square bomb plot investigation;

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the US were in close contact over Faisal Shahzad case while there were reports on Wednesday that a special team of US investigators have reached Islamabad to further dig out the matter in collaboration with Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile arrest of Faisal Shahzad have sparked outrage in Pakistan, especially among his family and relatives who were under the impression that a highly educated Faisal Shahzad was nothing to do with Time Square bombing plot. They accused authorities of Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington of doing nothing in Shahzad case.

On Wednesday, serious efforts were on in a bid to expose the hidden hands that brain-washed, planned and funded Faisal Shahzad for Time Square bombing (failed) plot and time he spent in Pakistan, United States and pakistan agreed to cooperate over Faisal Shahzad Case.

According to high profile diplomatic sources, both Pakistan and USA had agreed to this point during a three-member meeting held on Tuesday including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, US Ambassador to Pakistan Ann W Peterson and US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer.

When contacted by TheNation on Wednesday, spokesperson of US Embassy in Pakistan, Richard Snelsire confirmed that US Ambassador to Pakistan and India had held a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday and that the two ally countries against war on terror agreed to cooperate on Faisal Shahzad issue.

” Yes, they had held a meeting and agreed to cooperate in connection with Time Square bombing (failed) plot”, said Richard. However, he said he was unaware of arrival of any team of US investigators in Islamabad to further probe the matter.

On Wednesday, a local news channel reported quoting an American TV that Foreign Minister shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Time Square bombing plot might be a reaction of US drone attacks on Taliban. The channel further reported quoting Shah Mahmood as saying that such type of retaliatory attack were expected in near future also.

According to reports emanating from the US, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has said American authorities were in “close contact” with Pakistan trying to find out the details of the time spend by Times Square failed bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad.

“We are working with Pakistani authorities on a number of issues including Faisal Shahzad case,” the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said adding that the US authorities were in the middle of an active and ongoing investigation to probe how long did Faisal spend in Pakistan,” Gibbs said at his daily news briefing in response to a question.