Police in New York City say there is no evidence of Taliban involvement in a car-bombing attempt in Times Square late Saturday, despite claims to the contrary by a Pakistani group.
The New York police commissioner held a news conference Sunday and said an investigation of both the car and explosive materials is underway. He said a suspect has been identified but police have not spoken to him yet.
Authorities are viewing security camera footage and examining other evidence to determine who may have tried to set off the car bomb, which was in a heavily-touristed entertainment district.
Police evacuated thousands of tourists and theater-goers from Times Square Saturday night, after a T-shirt vendor noticed a suspicious vehicle and alerted officers.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the green Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle contained three propane tanks, fireworks, two gasoline containers, and two clocks with batteries. He said the device looked "amateurish," but could have caused a "very deadly event" had it exploded.
A police spokesman, Paul Browne, says the bomb appeared to have started to detonate but malfunctioned.
Police reopened Times Square after several hours.
The White House has said authorities are looking into all possibilities for the motivation behind the incident. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said officials are treating the incident as though it could have been an act of terrorism.
She said investigators are following leads that include fingerprints and possible video of the car earlier on Saturday evening.
Times Square is one of New York's main attractions, with theaters and restaurants that draw millions of tourists throughout the year.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not raise the national threat level after the incident.
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