UPDATED: Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor now reports that a man allegedly linked to a bombing at Times Square in New York no longer works for Telenor in Pakistan. On Friday, Telenor had confirmed that one of its employees in Pakistan has been brought in for questioning in connection with the failed terrorist attack earlier this month.
Four persons were arrested in Pakistan on Friday in connection with what police believe was an unsuccessful terrorist attack in the heart of Manhattan.
All four, reported Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), have ties to a Pakistani-American man who was arrested in New York just after the bombing effort.
One of them was initially believed to be a manager of a Telenor division in Pakistan. “I can confirm that one of the employees of Telenor in Pakistan has been brought in for questioning by Pakistani police,” Telenor spokesman Atle Lessum told NRK Friday evening. “We are now investigating the matter more closely.”
Telenor’s investigation later revealed that the man in question “worked for Telenor earlier, but quit a while back,” Lessum told NRK on Saturday. The man also wasn’t a top manager but worked in middle-management, Telenor stated.
The 30-year-old Pakistani-American already has admitted he placed a car bomb in Times Square. The man, Faisal Shazad, has also said he spent time at a training camp in Pakistan with militant insurgents.
The former Telenor employee is believed to have been a university roommate of Shazad in Connecticut in the US.
Telenor launched Pakistan’s GSM network in 2005 and claims to be the fastest growing mobile telephone operator in the country. It now ranks as Pakistan’s second-largest mobile phone operator, with around 2,500 employees. The Norwegian state is one of Telenor’s major shareholders.
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