One portion expressed concern at the prospect of being caught before being able to carry out a suicide attack and the desire to be a martyr.
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“It was a pressure cooker-style device with a mobile phone and wires connected to it but they appeared not to be anxious about that – they removed it, put it on the street and walked off with the suitcase”.
“Inshallah (God willing), the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets”.
On Wednesday, authorities released an image of Rahami’s blood-stained journal, a bullet hole piercing the small booklet that was found in the alleged bomber’s possession when he was captured after the shootout.
“The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism”, the bureau said.
New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill told a news conference that investigators had not yet received doctors’ clearance to interview Rahami, adding, “That may happen in the next 24 hours, pending the doctors’ approval”. Rahami was not prosecuted in the stabbing; a grand jury declined to indict him.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, touring the site of the Manhattan blast on Wednesday, said he believes insurance companies will cover most of the losses incurred by those whose businesses and homes were damaged. Federal prosecutors said they still were weighing charges over the bombings. This is not the first time someone “known” to investigators is accused of a terrorist act.
Like thousands of Afghan nationals, Rahami’s family lived in Quetta, Pakistan, as refugees before coming to the U.S.in 1995, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakriya said. It is unknown where they were traveling.
Around the time Rahami was captured, President Barack Obama was in NY on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. He emailed a congressman seeking help because his pregnant wife had an expired passport during a 2014 visit to Pakistan. One of the officials said the wife made a statement to authorities after walking into the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates.
“We’re aware of the reports but don’t have any comment at this time”, he told the AP.
The two men who happened upon one of Ahmad Rahami’s homemade bombs in New York City are being sought by investigators.
Reports circulated that in 2014, Rahami surfaced on the FBI’s radar about two years ago when Rahami’s father allegedly referred to his son as a terrorist. The other official said investigators believe she left the US for Pakistan in June.
Rahami, a naturalised USA citizen born in Afghanistan, was captured on Monday 19 September, after he was wounded in a gunfight in Linden, New Jersey.
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Union County state public defender Peter Liguori told the Times that Ann Luvera, a prosecutor in Union County, refused to give Liguori permission to see Rahami, who has been hospitalized in Newark since he became involved in a shootout with police last week.
