ISLAMABAD—Pakistani authorities have arrested four people in connection with the failed Times Square bomb plot, including an executive at a catering company that its owner said often served meals for staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
A U.S. official in Washington said Friday that there were indications terrorists might have been planning to use the company as cover for an attack in Pakistan.
The arrests begin to fill in the picture of Times Square suspect Faisal Shahzad's contacts in Pakistan, where he spent several months starting last year and, according to U.S. investigators, received training from local militants.
The office of Hanif Rajput Catering Services in Islamabad. The U.S. Embassy warned that the company might have links to terrorist groups.
The development sketches a picture—still poorly understood—of additional support from an urban, middle-class segment of Pakistani society that could be helping expatriate Pakistanis who want to carry out jihadist operations. Still, U.S. officials said they don't believe the arrested men represented a direct threat to the U.S.
Law-enforcement agencies arrested Salman Ashraf Khan, a 35-year-old vice president of Islamabad-based Hanif Rajput Catering Services, this month in connection with the May 1 bombing attempt, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said Friday.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad warned Americans on Friday that terrorist groups might have "established links" with the catering company and instructed U.S. government personnel to avoid using it.
Police defused a car bomb inside a sport utility vehicle in New York City's Times Square, prompting an evacuation of the area. Video courtesy of Reuters.
Another U.S. official said the Times Square investigation led Pakistani authorities to the catering company, and they found ties between the company and the Pakistani Taliban. The company is a "well-known organization," and "the Pakistanis were worried about that," the U.S. official said.
The alleged link between Mr. Khan and Mr. Shahzad, the Pakistani-American who authorities say has admitted to the failed plot, wasn't immediately clear. But U.S. officials believe Mr. Khan is one of several people Mr. Shahzad made contact with before the bomb attempt.
Rana Ashraf Khan, owner of the catering company and father of Salman Ashraf Khan, denied any links to terrorist groups, and the elder Mr. Khan said he hadn't had any contact with authorities.
His son is a "normal religious person" who sometimes disagrees with U.S. policy but isn't a radical, he said. The younger Mr. Khan studied computer sciences for three years at the University of Houston before coming back to Pakistan in 2001 to work for the family business, his father said. He got married three years ago but has no children. He has been missing since May 10, his father said.
The other three arrests included an employee of the local unit of Norwegian telephone company Telenor Group and a man who owned a computer shop in Islamabad, the Pakistani intelligence official said.
Pakistani authorities believe the local employee of Telenor shared a room with Mr. Shahzad at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and was his link to the computer store owner in Islamabad, the official said.
Pakistan is investigating whether the Telenor employee connected Mr. Shahzad with a group of people in Pakistan, including Mr. Khan, who helped link him to terrorist networks in Pakistan's tribal regions that border Afghanistan, the intelligence official said.
A spokesman for Telenor in Norway said the man arrested was a former employee of Telenor Pakistan who does not work for the company anymore.
A former army major also was picked up by Pakistani intelligence agents from his house in Rawalpindi near Islamabad last week for his alleged connection with Islamic militants. His father had filed a petition in a court that his son was missing. A military spokesman confirmed that the major was sacked from the army on disciplinary grounds last month and has been detained for questioning. But the spokesman denied that it had any link with the Times Square investigation.
Mr. Shahzad has told U.S. investigators he acted alone and got training in bomb making in the tribal regions. The U.S. government has said it believes Mr. Shahzad received training and logistical support from the Pakistani Taliban, which is based in the regions.
Mr. Shahzad was taken into custody May 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, two days after he allegedly tried to set off the car bomb in Times Square. He immediately began cooperating with investigators.
Mr. Shahzad appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday, more than two weeks after his arrest. During that time, he has been providing information to federal authorities.
He remains in custody and faces up to life in prison. His attorney declined to comment after Tuesday's hearing.
National Security Adviser James Jones and Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta flew to Pakistan this past week and met with President Asif Ali Zardari and other officials. The meetings addressed the Times Square bombing attempt, U.S.-Pakistan relations, regional security and the different terrorist groups operating in Pakistan. The arrests didn't appear to result directly from the meetings because some of them took place before the meetings.
—Siobhan Gorman and Evan Perez in Washington contributed to this article.
