FBI team swoops into Pak to probe Shahzad's botched terror plot trail

Washington, May 8 (ANI): A special Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team has reached Pakistan to probe links between confessed New York bomb plotter Faisal Shahzad and terror groups operating from that country, and also to look into the possibility of whether the Times Square bombing plot was financed by these banned outfits or not.

According to a US official privy to the investigations, a probe is on to determine the source of money Shahzad put into use to plot the failed bombing.

A former official briefed on the investigations, while speaking on conditions of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said Shahzad may also have obtained the money through 'Hawala', an informal money-transfer network popular in South Asia and the Middle East.

"There is a lot of money. To get that kind of money, the theory is you have someone help you move it," The Washington Post quoted a senior law enforcement official, as saying.

He also disclosed that Shahzad had brought with himself about 80,000 dollars to the US during foreign trips he made between 1999 to 2008.

As the investigation continues, US officials are verifying Shahzad's claims of meeting top leaders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which had claimed responsibility for the failed attack but backtracked later.

A senior Pakistani official, who is associated with the probe, said that as of now there was no evidence to prove that Shahzad had met TTP chieftain Hakeemullah Mehsud, but there are strong indications that 30-year old bomber was in touch with Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM), the banned Al-Qaeda linked terror groups which primarily focuses on India. (ANI)