U.S. nabs Times Square bomber at JFK airport

“this is amateur hour. My kids could build a better bomb than this.”

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg early Tuesday thanked law enforcement officials, saying that their “focused and swift efforts led to this arrest after only 48 hours of around-the-clock investigation. I hope their impressive work serves as a lesson to anyone who would do us harm.”

A senior White House official said President Barack Obama was briefed six times yesterday about the investigation and was notified of Shahzad’s arrest at 12:05 am Tuesday.

The Taliban in Pakistan said Sunday it planted the bomb to avenge the killing in April of al-Qaida’s two top leaders in Iraq as well as U.S. interference in Muslim countries.

Some officials voiced skepticism about the claim. Former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel, who last year oversaw an Obama administration strategy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan, cautioned, however, against dismissing a possible role by the Taliban. “They have said they want to attack inside the United States,” he said before the arrest was announced, adding there was “a very serious possibility” the incident involved “some Pakistani-American who has never built a car bomb before in his life but who is being coached either by phone or internet.”

In Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said authorities had not been formally asked for help in the probe. “When the request comes, we will cooperate with the U.S. government,” he told the AP.

The location of the bomb suggests a number of possible targets. The SUV was parked near offices of Viacom Inc., which owns Comedy Central. The network recently aired an episode of the animated show “South Park” that the group Revolution Muslim had complained insulted the Prophet Muhammad by depicting him in a bear costume.

The date of the botched bombing — 1 May — was International Workers Day, a traditional date for political demonstrations, and thousands had rallied for immigration reform that day in New York.

Security had been also been tight in the city in advance of a visit to the United Nations by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a nuclear weapons conference.

Also, the area, lined with Broadway theaters and restaurants, was full of people out on a Saturday night. The vehicle was captured on video crossing an intersection at 6:28 p.m. Saturday. Vendors pointed out the Pathfinder to police about two minutes later. Times Square was shut down for ten hours.

Obama telephoned handbag vendor Duane Jackson, 58, of Buchanan, New York, on Monday to commend him for alerting authorities to the smoking SUV. The White House said Obama thanked Jackson for his vigilance and for acting quickly to prevent serious trouble.