Feds See Hints Of International Plot Behind Failed Times Square Bombing

Although they insist that there is still no evidence to support the Taliban's claim of responsibility for Saturday's car bomb attempt in Times Square, federal investigators now say they have clues that the incident may not have been domestic in origin.

The failed car bombing in Times Square increasingly appears to have been coordinated by more than one person in a plot with international links, Obama administration officials said Monday. Emerging from a series of briefings, several officials said it was premature to rule out any motive but said the sweeping, multi-state investigation was turning up new clues. One federal law enforcement official cautioned that, while investigators are examining unspecified international communications that may be connected to the attack, "that doesn't get you to an international plot, a multi-organizational plot." "We're just not there," the official said. Separately, the White House also characterized the incident for the first time as an attempted act of terrorism. "I would say that was intended to terrorize, and I would say that whomever did that would be categorized as a terrorist," spokesman Robert Gibbs said, sharpening the administration's tone. Another U.S. official, recounting a conversation with intelligence officials, said, "Don't be surprised if you find a foreign nexus. . . . They're looking at some tell-tale signs and they're saying it's pointing in that direction."

PHOTO: Surveillance still of SUV at Broadway & 44th.