Expert dismisses US massacre claim

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Professor Paul Wilkinson, chairman of the University of St Andrews Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, said it seemed "unlikely" that terrorists were involved in the shootings as the evidence so far seemed to point to a lone gunman with no political message.

He was speaking after Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for Friday's attack on the immigration services centre in Binghamton in New York State.

"My assessment at the moment is that we don't have any corroborating evidence that would support Mehsud's claim and that it seems rather unlikely so we should be extremely cautious about the claim," Prof Wilkinson said.

"There have been a number of these dreadful, tragic gun attacks recently across America and this appears to be of that kind."

He said the police investigation was still ongoing but the early indications were that there was "one lone gunman".

"There have been no reports of any political statements or threats to link this with extremists in Pakistan or Afghanistan," he said.

Prof Wilkinson added it appeared to be an "opportunistic claim".