Feds Investigate \\\"South Park\\\" Link to NYC Bomb Plot

Police hunting the man who parked a crude but powerful car bomb in Times Square Saturday night are looking into a possible link to a South Park cartoon lampooning censorship about Mohammed.

No link has been established, but threats against the Comedy Central animators were made by a New York Islamist Web site last month and police are aggressively looking for connections, sources told the Daily News.

The dark-colored Nissan SUV, its engine running and hazard lights flashing, was parked on W. 45th St. right next to the Broadway headquarters of Viacom, which owns Comedy Central.

The Pathfinder was packed with propane, gasoline and fireworks and a rudimentary fuse had already been ignited.

A vendor saved the day when he saw smoke curling from the car at about 6:30 p.m. and alerted Officer Wayne Rhatigan.

The materials were primitive, but if the SUV had blown, officials said the inferno would have eclipsed the blazing lights of the Crossroads of the World.

"I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

"We are very, very lucky," said a police source.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the feds were taking it very seriously, treating it as "a potential terrorist attack."

"Right now, we have no information other than it is a one-off," she told ABC. "Nonetheless, we are alerting state and local law enforcement - everybody - to be on their toes."

See also:

Top Republican: Car bomb could have been related to "South Park" controversy