WASHINGTON: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday ruled out Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud's claim that he was responsible for an attack on a US immigration assistance center in New York state in which 14 people were killed.

The official said that the FBI did not believe Mehsud was capable of carrying out a threat he made last week to attack Washington or the White House.

‘Based on the evidence, we can firmly discount that claim,’ FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told Dawn.

Asked if there was no evidence to suggest that Mehsud was involved, the FBI spokesman said: ‘We know they are not involved, no suggestion. We never suspected their involvement.’

Asked if the FBI had taken seriously Mehsud’s threat last week that he was planning a ‘spectacular’ terrorist attack on the US capital, Mr Kolko said: ‘We did not put much credence on those either, although he is a dangerous person.’

Pakistani officials had already rejected Mehsud’s claim for the New York attack as ‘mere bragging,’ one security official told journalists in Peshawar. ‘We don't think he has the capability to strike in the United States,’ the official said.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes Binghamton where the shooting took place, told the New York Times that apparently the gunman was an immigrant from Vietnam.

The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, New York, a law enforcement official said.

Earlier Saturday, Mehsud told local journalists by telephone from an undisclosed location that his group had carried the Binghamton killing.

‘Whatever happened in America yesterday was done by our men,’ he said.

The much-feared Taliban commander also made the claim in a telephone call to the BBC, which said Mehsud gave no evidence to corroborate the claim.

On Tuesday Mehsud warned that Washington may be attacked for offering $5 million for information leading to his location or arrest.

‘You can’t imagine how we could avenge this threat inside Washington, inside the White House,’ said the Taliban commander.

The State Department has described Mehsud as a clear threat to American interests in the region.

Earlier, a senior US general, David Petraeus, told a Senate panel that the cross-border reach of Mehsud’s group was questionable, but he added the threat would be taken seriously.

‘We are doing what is, in intelligence circles, called a ‘deep dive’ to determine the possibility of that,’ he said.