AP source: Suspect who became naturalized citizen early last year then went to Pakistan

AP source: suspect gained citizenship last year

WASHINGTON — A federal law enforcement official says the suspect arrested in the Times Square bombing attempt became a naturalized U.S. citizen last year shortly before traveling to his native Pakistan.

The official, speaking speaking Tuesday on condition of anonymity amid the ongoing investigation, says the man, Faisal Shahzad, was not known to the U.S. intelligence community before the failed bombing attempt in New York City.

The official says there was no derogatory information about the man in the government’s various terrorism-related databases.

The official says investigators learned the man’s identity on Monday, but declined to say how.