国际英语新闻：NY car bombing attempt intended to terrorize: White House

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The failed car bombing attempt in New York's Times Square was "intended to terrorize," a White House spokesman said on Monday.

"I think anybody that has the type of material that they had in a car in Times Square, I would say that that was intended to terrorize, absolutely," Robert Gibbs said in a White House briefing, referring to the Saturday incident in New York City, in which explosives inside a Nissan Pathfinder SUV were set ablaze but failed to detonate.

While refusing to give any clues on the possible suspects, Gibbs said that "whoever did that would be categorized as a terrorists."

A surveillance photo captured in Times Square shows a Nissan Pathfinder sports utility vehicle (R) containing a bomb in this New York Police Department image released on May 2, 2010. Backyard barbecue gas tanks, firecrackers and alarm clocks were among the ingredients used to make the car bomb that authorities say would have killed many people if it had exploded in New York's busy Times Square.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the foiled attack in Times square, a statement on an Islamist website said on Sunday. But the New York City Police Department said there is "no evidence" to support the claims.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that investigators have made progress into the car bombing attempt.

"I think that we have made really substantial progress," he told reporters, adding that "ultimately this investigation will be successful and the people responsible for that attempt will be found and brought to justice."

Holder decline to speculate on whether the incident was connected to international terrorism, saying he knew "that group in the past has claimed responsibility for incidents that (they) ultimately were not connected to."