A CRUDE car bomb has been found and defused in New York's Times Square.
Cops are investigating whether the makers of the South Park cartoon were being targeted in the attempted explosion.
The bomb was left near the offices of entertainment company Viacom, after an episode of their controversial cartoon featured Muhammad in a bear suit.
An extreme website called Revolution Muslim warned the show's makers there would be reprisals.
Thousands of tourists had to be cleared from the popular spot after a T-shirt vendor alerted cops.
They say propane tanks, fireworks, petrol, and a clock device were removed from a parked sports utility vehicle.
The Taliban in Pakistan said tonight it planted the crude device to avenge the killing last month of al Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq as well as US interference in Muslim countries.
This could not be immediately verified, but security analysts urged caution over the claim.
Part of the district - where many theatres are sited - was sealed off.
US President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg both praised the quick response from cops.
Mr Bloomberg said: "We are very lucky. Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could have been a very deadly event."
He said the bomb "looked amateurish" but could have exploded, adding that the incident was a "reminder of the dangers that we face."
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said he thought the intention was "to cause a significant ball of fire."
He added: "We avoided what we could have been a very deadly event."
The bomb appeared to be starting to detonate but malfunctioned.
The first firefighters arriving at the scene heard a popping sound.
No-one has been arrested but Commissioner Kelly said a surveillance video showed the car driving west on 45th Street before it parked between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
Smoke was coming from the back of the dark-coloured Pathfinder and its hazard lights were on.
The T-shirt vendor alerted police at about 6.30 p.m local time on Saturday.
Times Square is just four miles away from the site of World Trade Centre bombed on September 11, 2001.
Katy Neubauer, 46, and Becca Saunders, 39, of Milwaukee, were shopping for souvenirs two blocks south of the SUV when they saw panicked crowds.
Katy said: "It was a mass of people running away from the scene."
It was clear today who was responsible for the bomb, but Islamic militants have used propane and compressed gas for years to enhance the force of explosives.
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