By Jeremy Pelofsky and Michelle Nichols
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A probe of a failed Times Square car-bombing has made progress, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Monday, as authorities focussed on video of a MAN (MAN.XE)seen leaving the New York City landmark.
A security camera filmed the man, who is white, thin and in his 40s, about half a block from where police on Saturday found an abandoned car containing propane gas tanks, plastic containers of gasoline, firecrackers and non-explosive fertilizer.
The crudely made car bomb, which smoked but failed to explode, could have sparked a giant fireball, blowing out windows in the popular entertainment and shopping district.
"I think that we have made really substantial progress," Holder told reporters in Washington, vowing that those responsible for the attempted attack would be found and brought to justice.
"We have some good leads," Holder said, referring to the man in the video. "We are following a number of other leads as well."
The 19 seconds of video released by police showed the man removing a dark shirt worn over a red shirt, stuffing it into a bag and then walking away with the item. He is seen glancing at least twice over his shoulder.
Holder did not label the man a suspect and was cautious about linking the failed bombing to international organizations despite a claim of responsibility by the Taliban in Pakistan, an Islamist extremist group.
"I know that group in the past has claimed responsibility for incidents that (they) ultimately were not connected to," he said, adding that it was too early to say who had parked the car, found with its engine running and hazard lights flashing.
Times Square, located in Midtown Manhattan, was packed with tourists and theatre-goers on a warm Saturday evening when police were alerted to the vehicle and quickly evacuated the area.
New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the man on the video may have been innocently changing his shirt.
Speaking on CNN, Kelly also said police planned to release later on Monday a second videotape, taken by a tourist and showing a man running near the scene at about the time of the incident.
New York and its 8 million people have been on high alert since the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which airliners hijacked by al Qaeda militants toppled the World Trade Center's twin towers, killing more than 2,600 people.
NO EVIDENCE OF AL QAEDA, TALIBAN
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America" program, reiterated on Monday that there was "no legitimate evidence" of a link to al Qaeda, the Taliban or any other group in the Times Square incident.
Kelly and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said it was unclear whether the failed attack was staged by a single person or a group.
The Taliban in Pakistan said on Sunday it planted the bomb to avenge the killing in April of al Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq. Kelly said there was "no evidence" to support the claim.
Security at U.S. East Coast airports was boosted after the Times Square incident to counter possible vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices at airports and crowded public spaces, a Department of Homeland Security official said.
Markets, however, appeared to brush off the car-bomb attempt, the latest in a series of security scares that have frayed the nerves of New Yorkers.
Michael Cheah, senior portfolio manager at SunAmerica Asset Management, described it as an "isolated incident" that was not likely to spark any Treasury market reaction.
(Additional reporting by Will Dunham and Deborah Charles)
(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Paul Simao)
