Accused Times Square bomber to appear in NY court

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Suspected Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad will make his first court appearance on Tuesday after providing "valuable intelligence" since his arrest two weeks ago, said prosecutors.

Shahzad, 30, who was born in Pakistan and became a U.S. citizen last year, is accused of parking a car containing a bomb in New York's crowded Times Square on May 1. He was arrested two days later aboard a flight bound for Dubai.

U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that Shahzad had provided "valuable intelligence" that had been used to take further investigative action.

Shahzad has been charged with five felonies: attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, using a destructive device in an attempted violent crime, transporting and receiving explosives, and trying to damage and destroy property with fire and explosives.

Since his arrest at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 3, Shahzad, who has a wife and two children living in Pakistan, has been talking with authorities, who said he had waived his U.S. legal rights.

Prosecutors said Shahzad admitted to the failed Times Square bomb attack and said he had travelled to a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan to receive bombmaking training.

The Pakistani Taliban, called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said there was evidence the group was behind it.

Several people have been arrested in Pakistan in the case and U.S. authorities carried out raids last week in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maine, detaining three people.

(Reporting by Basil Katz, writing by Michelle Nichols, editing by Doina Chiacu)