ইক্যুমেনিক্যাল খ্রিস্টান ট্রাস্ট (ইসিটি) ও সেন্ট থমাস চার্চ এর যৌথ সেমিনার নিরাপত্তা, ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতি ও জাতীয় ঐক্যের প্রয়োজনীয়তা

 

সবার ধর্ম স্বাধীনভাবে পালনের নিশ্চয়তাই সম্প্রীতি

রাজধানীর মগবাজারে সেন্ট থমাস চার্চে ‘নিরাপত্তা, ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতি ও জাতীয় ঐক্যের প্রয়োজনীয়তা’ শীর্ষক এক সেমিনার আয়োজিত হয়েছে।

শুক্রবার (১৭ জানুয়ারি) ইক‍্যুমেনিক্যাল খ্রিস্টান ট্রাস্ট (ইসিটি) এবং সেন্ট থমাস চার্চের যৌথ উদ্যোগে এই সেমিনারের আয়োজন করা হয়। এতে সভাপতিত্ব করেন ইক‍্যুমেনিক্যাল খ্রিস্টান ট্রাস্টের (ইসিটি) চেয়ারম্যান রেভা. ইম্মানুয়েল মল্লিক। প্রধান অতিথি হিসেবে উপস্থিত ছিলেন সেন্ট থমাস চার্চের সিনিয়র ব‍্যক্তিত্ব জর্জ বিনিময় রায়।

সেমিনারের শুরুতে মূল প্রবন্ধ পাঠ করেন জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের অধ্যাপক ড. মিল্টন বিশ্বাস (সেক্রেটারি, ইক‍্যুমেনিকেল খ্রিস্টান ট্রাস্ট)।

প্রধান অতিথির বক্তব্যে সেন্ট থমাস চার্চের সিনিয়র ব্যক্তিত্ব জর্জ বিনিময় রায় বলেন, যিনি অন্য ধর্ম পালন করেন তিনি যেন স্বাধীনভাবে পালন করতে পারেন সেটা সরকারকে নিশ্চিত করতে হবে। ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতি হলো আপনি যেন আপনার ধর্মটা স্বাধীনভাবে পালন করতে পারেন। এক ধর্ম যেন অন্য ধর্মের উপর হস্তক্ষেপ না করে। এটাই আমাদের মূল উদ্দেশ্য। আর এটাকে পূর্ণাঙ্গ রূপ দিতে পারেন সরকার। কোনো ধর্মকে বেশি গুরুত্ব দিলে ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতি নষ্ট হয়ে যায়। 

জাতীয় ঐক্যই জাতির মেরুদণ্ড উল্লেখ করে জর্জ বিনিময় রায় বলেন, একটা জাতির মধ্যে ঐক্য থাকলে তারা যে কোনো লক্ষ্যে পৌঁছাতে পারে। জাতিকে এগিয়ে নিতে হলে একতা ছাড়া কোনো উপায় নেই। আজকে আমরা যে সভ্যতার উপর দাঁড়িয়ে আছি, সেটা এনে দিয়েছে একতা। আমরা যদি এক থাকি আমদের নিরাপত্তা থাকবে। সুতরাং, আমাদের মধ্যে একতা সর্বোচ্চ গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। এখানে আমাদের কর্তব্য হলো, নিরাপত্তা, ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতি ও ঐক্য নিশ্চিতে নিজ নিজ জায়গা থেকে আমাদের অবদান রাখা।

অনুষ্ঠানে উপস্থিত সবাইকে ধন্যবাদ ও কৃতজ্ঞতা জানিয়ে সভাপতির বক্তব্যে রেভারেন্ড ইম্মানুয়েল মল্লিক বলেন, সম্প্রীতি ও ঐক্য রক্ষায় আমাদের সকলের পাশাপাশি মিডিয়ারও গুরুত্ব রয়েছে। আমরা বিগত আন্দোলনে মিডিয়ার ভূমিকা দেখেছি।

সেমিনারে অন্যান্যদের মধ্যে উপস্থিত ছিলেন জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ইংরেজি বিভাগের অধ্যাপক নাসির উদ্দীন আহমেদ, বিশপ সাইমন বাড়ৈ, সদস্য, ইসিটি বোর্ড, জন সুশান্ত বিশ্বাস, ট্রেজারার, ইক‍্যুমেনিকেল খ্রিষ্টান ট্রাষ্ট (ইসিটি) প্রমুখ।

বিশেষ অতিথি অধ্যাপক নাসির উদ্দীন আহমেদ বলেন, কোনো কোনো জায়গায় সেনাবাহিনীকে ঐক্যের প্রতীক বলা হচ্ছে, কোথাও ধর্মকে বলা হচ্ছে। আমি বলছি সেনাবাহিনী হচ্ছে নিরপেক্ষ একটা শক্তি। কেউ যদি নিরপেক্ষ থাকে সেখানে সঠিক সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়া সহজ। আমাদের ছাত্রদেরকে সঠিকভাবে পরিচালনা করতে পারলে তারাও ঐক্যের প্রতীক হতে পারে। সেটা তারা বিগত আন্দোলনে দেখিয়ে দিয়েছে। বাস্তবিক অর্থে ঐক্য ঠিক করতে হলে সামাজিক ন্যায়বিচার অত্যন্ত জরুরি। আগামীর পৃথিবীকে সুন্দরভাবে সজাতে হলে, সামাজিক ও ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতিকে রক্ষা করতে হলে জাতীয় ঐক্য জরুরি।

৫ আগষ্ট পূর্ববর্তী ও পরবর্তী জাতীয় ঐক্যের প্রতীক বাংলাদেশ সেনাবাহিনীর দূরদর্শী ও বলিষ্ঠ সিদ্ধান্ত দেশকে রক্ষা করেছে উল্লেখ করে ইসিটি ট্রেজারার জন সুশান্ত বিশ্বাস বলেন, দেশ দাঁড়িয়ে আছে তিনটি পিলারের ওপর। সেটা হলো জনগণ, সরকার ও দেশপ্রেমিক সেনাবাহিনী। সেনাবাহিনীর সঠিক সিদ্ধান্ত আমাদের দেশকে পথ হারাতে দেয়নি। প্রয়োজনীয় সংস্কারের পরই নির্বাচন হওয়া উচিত। তাড়াহুড়ো করে আমরা দেশকে আরেকটি ফ্যাসিস্ট এর হাতে তুলে দিতে চাই না।

মূল প্রবন্ধে প্রফেসর বিশ্বাস বলেন, ২০২৪ সালের ৫ আগস্ট-পরবর্তী ‘নতুন বাংলাদেশ’ নিরাপত্তা ইস্যুতে নতুন পথের অন্বেষী হয়ে ওঠে। দেশজুড়ে সেনাবাহিনীর ইতিবাচক তৎপরতা অভিনন্দিত হয়। কিন্তু সেসময় থেকে দেশের কোনো কোনো স্থানে হিন্দু-বৌদ্ধ-খ্রিষ্টান তথা অমুসলীম জনগোষ্ঠীর উপর যে চাপ তৈরি হয় তাতে ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতির প্রসঙ্গটি সামনে আসে। তিনি আরও বলেন, অন্তর্বর্তী সরকারের প্রধান উপদেষ্টা নোবেল লরিয়েট অধ্যাপক ড. মুহাম্মদ ইউনূস বিভিন্ন ধর্মীয় সম্প্রদায়ের নেতাদের সঙ্গে আলোচনা করে এক ধর্ম সম্প্রদায়ের সঙ্গে অন্য সম্প্রদায়ের সৌহার্দ্য অক্ষুণ্ন রাখার দৃঢ় প্রত্যয় ব্যক্ত করেন।

সেমিনারে সাংবাদিক সুজাউল ইসলাম বলেন, ৫ আগষ্ট পরবর্তী সময়ে ধর্মীয় সংখ্যালঘু নামে একটা বিষয় নিয়ে ষড়যন্ত্র হচ্ছে। কিন্তু বাস্তবে বাংলাদেশের সংখ্যালঘু বলতে কিছু নেই বলে মনে করেন তিনি।

এছাড়া, দৈনিক খবরের কাগজের জ্যেষ্ঠ সহ-সম্পাদক শাহাদাত হোসেন বলেন, দীর্ঘ সময় অন্যায় অত্যাচার জুলুমের শিকার একটি জাতিকে ছাত্র-জনতা এক অভ্যুত্থানের মাধ্যমে রক্ষা করেছে। এখানে জাতীয় ঐক্যের গুরুত্ব অনুধাবন করা যায়। পরাজিত শক্তি ঐক্য বিনষ্ট করে জাতিকে বিভ্রান্ত করার জন্য এখন জাতীয় ও আন্তর্জাতিকভাবে চেষ্টা করছে। তারা বিভিন্নভাবে ধর্মীয় সম্প্রীতি বিনষ্ট করার মাধ্যমে দেশকে অস্থিতিশীল করার সবরকম চেষ্টা করছে।

CCDB's Advin Barun Banerjee insults the Holy Quran

Special Correspondent

On 17/5/2021, CCDB Commission (Executive Committee) member Advin Barun Banerjee gave an objectionable speech on the Holy Quran at a seminar for the Christian Youth Society at the Presbyterian Church (PCB) in Gazipur. As the main speaker, he tried to prove by drawing on the family and domestic context of the Prophet's life that the Prophet was a rapist and sexually deranged. Most of the Christian youth present at that seminar, including a teacher from a public university, rejected the issue as controversial and protested. And called for the boycott of Advin Barun Banerjee as a religious provocateur.

It is worth noting that Advin Barun Banerjee often speaks dirty words about the Quran and the Prophet in seminars held for the Christian Youth Society, claiming to be an expert on the Quran. He is a powerful member of the Executive committee of the NGO Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) located at 88 Senpara Parbata, Mirpur-10. The others in the executive committee are forced to accept his words. Even Advin Barun Banerjee's inconsistent interpretation of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) led to a conflict with the secretary of an independent organization called Ecumenical Christian Trust (ECT).

In another seminar held on March 18, 2022, Advin Barun Banerjee read a written speech on the Holy Quran in front of about 50 Christian youth and talked about the Holy Prophet (PBUH), especially his sexual life. In immediate reaction, the ECT secretary rejected his speech. Even the ECT secretary filed a verbal complaint against Advin Barun Banerjee with the leaders of the Christian community. As a result, a terrible conflict began with the organization called 'ECT'. Due to Advin Barun Banerjee's dominance, a GD was filed at the police station. But with the shelter of 'CCDB', Edvin Barun Banerjee showed fear and showed power. When he was called on this matter, he avoided the issue and started talking about a different topic. 

However, despite the allegations of insulting the Quran, he was reinstated as a member of the Christian NGO 'CCDB' management committee (at the AGM in May 2024). When Executive Director Juliet Keya Malakar was called, she put the matter on the shoulders of CCDB Chairman David Anil Halder.

In addition, When asked about some of the Christian youth who were present at the seminars, they said that the Quran-desecrating Advin Barun Banerjee and the NGO called CCDB are spreading religious hatred and destroying the atmosphere of harmony cannot continue in the new Bangladesh. Chief Advisor Professor Dr. Yunus wants to see the new Bangladesh as one of the examples of harmony. There is no place for a Quran denier like Advin Barun Banerjee. Immediately hand over 'CCDB' and Advin Barun Banerjee to the law.

Whatever happened to the papal tiara?

 

The triple crown – that oversized, turban-shaped, jewel-encrusted, gold-and-silver helmet – traditionally epitomised the pope’s power as God’s representative on earth. After his coronation in 1963 Paul VI declared this piece of historic headgear unsuitable to Peter’s pastoral mission. It has not been worn since, not even by the traditionally-minded Benedict XVI. The tiara has become a sort of papal relic; progressive Catholics regard it as outmoded and outdated, and it makes them cringe.

Several tiaras nevertheless grace the Vatican’s collections, and can be gawped at from time to time. The “Spanish Tiara”, a gift from Isabella II of Spain, dates from 1855. The “Belgian” was donated by the ladies of Leopold II’s court in 1871. The “Palatine” was a present from the members of the Palatine Guard in 1877; the “Paris” came from the Catholics of France in 1888, while the “Austrian” was given by the Emperor Franz Joseph in 1894.

These tiaras constitute only a fraction of the regalia popes have acquired. Renaissance popes, the earliest who recorded their collections carefully, commissioned such items often. In the 1460s, Paul II ordered two tiaras encrusted with precious stones valued respectively at 50,000 and 200,000 florins.  Sixtus IV’s tiara was worth 110,000 florins in the 1470s and it included over 10,000 ducats worth of pearls and gemstones. Julius II commissioned a tiara in 1510 that held an enormous 120-carat ruby.

Such ostentatious diadems strongly reflected wider political aspirations to Italian domination at the time. Popes had already begun to emblazon the tiara’s form on coins, coats of arms, and other images representative of their authority. Alongside the crossed keys, it made their mark distinctive; one knew when something was papal, rather than merely episcopal or royal. And popes guarded their prerogatives over image rights jealously. Only once did they concede a right to use the tiara shape, to the Patriarchs of Lisbon in the early 18th century. The habit of the Archbishops of Benevento to use a tiara-like device rankled.

It may surprise modern sensibilities that popes had so many tiaras to choose from. Yet majesty lay in multiplicity. Popes wore them, but they also paraded them in processions – up to four at a time on gilded cushions, according to the diaries of some early modern masters of ceremonies. The ill-fated Pius VI was a particular fan of such theatre – so much so that in the 1780s he refurbished the four tiaras he inherited. Alas, only one of these, the so-called “Gregory XIII”, survives. When Napoleon’s troops took Rome in 1797, they confiscated the entire papal treasury. Three tiaras were melted down; the great 400-carat emerald in the fourth was prised out and taken to Paris.

Pius VII therefore had to confront his coronation in Venice in 1800 without a tiara, so a papier-mâché one was quickly mocked up. Local noblewomen loaned him gems to mount in the structure, which proved lightweight and agile. Just the sort of headgear a pope who wanted to be seen and remembered could seize upon, in fact. Gregory XVI retired Pius VII’s paper crown, but commissioned a fresh one in lightweight metal. His image-conscious successor Pius IX then widened its use, vesting it with connotations of universal authority and the papal plenitude.

Pio Nono’s approach, in fact, harked back to the Middle Ages. The tiara’s original significance seems to have been as a temporal crown – the pope had his mitre for the spiritual power – but Innocent III promoted the idea that it might mean something more. He appears in a famous fresco which shows him in his tiara beside the Throne of the Lamb – a clear assertion of the tiara’s universal symbolism. Boniface VIII, another keen exploiter of visuals, added a second crown to his tiara. A 14th-century Avignon pope – we are not sure which – added a third, which led to the meaning of the “triple crown” being hotly debated.

Some said the three crowns represented royal, sacerdotal and imperial powers. Others argued that they were signs of the threefold nature of theological harmonies: Father, Son and Holy Ghost; Greek, Latin, Hebrew; the Church as Christ’s wife, daughter, and mother. Hundreds of pages of text explicated these arcane arguments. Pius IX revived the debates when he wore the tiara to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. Because the occasion was intended to define the Immaculate Conception as a universal dogma, he encouraged the tiara to be seen as a symbol of what would become, in 1870, his infallibility.

Yet later popes have not always been convinced. Long before Paul VI’s repudiation of the tiara, Benedict XV sold the jewels in the “Napoleon Tiara” – a gift from the emperor back to Pius VII when they were working towards reconciliation – to raise money for victims of the First World War. A pastoral pope should have other priorities, he intimated; his post-Vatican II successors have strengthened that line ever since.

One irony of contemporary attitudes to tiaras is that (with the understandable exception of John Paul I) each pope since John XXIII has had one made for him by pious Catholics somewhere in the world. John XXIII’s, a gift from the people of his hometown of Bergamo, remains in the cathedral treasury there. Paul VI’s, a modernist one fabricated in Milan, and the model for that used by Jude Law as Pius XIII in Paolo Sorrentino’s The Young Pope, now resides in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC.

John Paul II’s was made in Hungary; Benedict XVI’s in Germany. Even Pope Francis has his own tiara: an ostentatious, pearly item presented to him by the President of the Assembly of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The precise locations and fates of these tiaras are not widely known. Unlike the indigenous headgear of Papua New Guinea, which Francis gamely sported on his visit there this year, they are not likely to appear on a papal head soon.

The surviving tiaras bear material, if silent, witnesses to the papacy’s ongoing transformations in the contemporary world. This particular papal symbol seems destined for ongoing romanticisation, but will there ever be a revival? How future popes see their relationship with past and present will determine this, as so much else.

Dr Miles Pattenden is a member of the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford

Bangladeshi religious leaders vow to uphold unity, harmony

 

Catholic priest urges the interim govt to hold regular dialogue with faith leaders to address their concerns

Leaders from religious groups joined a special dialogue program with the head of Bangladesh’s interim government and vowed to uphold national unity and harmony amid ongoing diplomatic tension between Dhaka and New Delhi over alleged minority repression.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser of the interim government, held the program with leaders representing Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity, at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital Dhaka on Dec. 5.

“There is some level of tension amid some provocative media campaign outside Bangladesh on religious repression in Bangladesh. This is a sensitive time. We all need to have unity and patience,” said Catholic priest Albert Thomas Rozario, parish priest of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Dhaka, who joined the program.

A Supreme Court lawyer and chairman of Bangladesh Christian Lawyers’ Association, Rozario said he appealed Yunus to take initiatives to heal the wounds created by recent political upheavals. 

Police stations, establishments of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s supporters, and minorities, especially Hindus, came under attack since Hasina fled to India on Aug. 5 following a bloody student-led mass uprising.

The arrest of a Hindu leader, Chinmoy Krishna Das, on Nov. 25 even sparked tensions between Bangladesh and India.

Das, a leader of the newly formed Hindu group Sommilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, was arrested on sedition charges.

The denial of his bail by a court in Chattogram, the country’s second-largest city, triggered protests in Bangladesh and India.

On Nov. 26, Bangladeshi supporters of Das clashed with security forces, leaving a Muslim lawyer, and a public prosecutor, dead and several others injured.

A day after the arrest, India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement expressing "deep concern" over the matter.

In response, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry issued a statement, rejecting India’s concerns as "baseless."

Yunus’ Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said many of the attacks against Hindus were linked to political and personal interests, not communal in nature.

Diplomatic relations soured further on Dec. 2, when Indian protesters, reportedly rightwing Hindus, attacked Bangladesh’s Assistant High Commission building in Agartala of Tripura state and burnt the Bangladesh flag in front of Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, West Bengal state.

Following these events, Professor Yunus held a series of dialogues with the political parties, student leaders and faith leaders, calling for national unity, religious harmony and patience.

On Dec. 5, he sought advice from religious leaders on how to collect free and truthful information on the problems of minorities.

“Traditionally, people of all faiths in Bangladesh live in harmony. The recent events have created some tension,” Rozario said, adding that he requested Yunus to have a dialogue with faith leaders regularly to address their concerns and ensure all cases of persecution see justice.

He said due legal procedure should be followed in the case of Das.

Avinash Mitra, assistant secretary of Ramna Harichand Temple in Dhaka said that news about repression of minorities is largely untrue.

“Those of us living in Bangladesh have no division. There are people outside the country trying to create division through propaganda,” he told journalists after the dialogue program. 

“We do not want them to have personal gains through propaganda. We are united here,” he added.

About 90 percent of Bangladesh’s more than 170 million population are Muslims, according to official data. About 8 percent are Hindus and the rest belong to other faiths including Buddhism and Christianity.

Biden admin. ordered to stop selling border wall materials, prove it didn't illegally redirect funds

 

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Department of Labor on Dec. 16, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Biden signed a proclamation to establish the Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine. Perkins was the first female Cabinet secretary and served as the Labor Secretary under Franklin Roosevelt. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Biden administration must stop disposing of border wall materials before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office and provide proof that it didn’t illegally redirect money intended for the border wall construction, according to an order from a Texas federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a court order last Friday prohibiting President Joe Biden and his administration from auctioning off any further construction materials over the next 30 days, Fox News reported last week. The Biden administration confirmed that it will agree to the court order. 

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump declared the outcome “a major, crucial WIN for America” and its national security. Keeping with his campaign promises to reduce illegal immigration, the Republican president-elect vowed to rebuild the border wall upon reentering office. 

“We have to protect our Borders and Save America,” Trump wrote. “MAGA!”

The order is the result of an effort led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who took action in May following reports that the Biden administration was selling parts of the wall at the United States-Mexico border. 

In a Friday press release celebrating the order, Paxton explained that Tipton also ordered the Biden administration to provide documentation that it hasn't violated an injunction the state attorney general secured in May. 

According to Paxton, the injunction required the Biden administration to spend specific funds intended for the construction of the border wall after the federal government allegedly attempted to illegally redirect the money. 

“We have successfully blocked the Biden Administration from disposing of any further border wall materials before President Trump takes office,” the Texas attorney general stated. 

“This follows our major victory forcing Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his Administration accountable for illegally subverting our Nation’s border security until their very last day in power, especially where their actions are clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda.”

Throughout his first presidential administration, Trump promised to build a border wall to help curb the flow of illegal immigration. 

Upon taking office, Biden halted construction of most of the wall in 2021 and abolished the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, which required those seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their cases were adjudicated. The Biden administration has been auctioning off sections of the border since at least 2023, Fox News reported. 

The Biden administration selling parts of the wall gained attention following a report from The Daily Wire early in December that featured a video provided by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent. In the video, a flatbed truck is seen hauling unused border wall materials away from near Tucson, Arizona. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. 

“They are taking it from three stations: Nogales, Tucson, and Three Points,” the border patrol agent told The Daily Wire, estimating that half a mile per day of unused border wall is being moved. “The goal is to move all of it off the border before Christmas.”

According to the agent, the Biden administration took unused sections of the border wall that were reportedly still in good shape and transported them from the construction site. Harold Lambeth, the owner of DP Trucking LLC, confirmed to the outlet that the company is taking the sections of the border wall north. 

Pieces of the wall were taken to a government auction site, where the bidding for the panels started at $5, according to The Daily Wire. Footage of the GovPlanet auction site showed piles of border wall materials, while the auction site’s website shows a sale was held on Dec. 4, 2024. 

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman

New Orleans terrorist acted alone, was '100% inspired by ISIS,' FBI says

Federal investigators said Thursday they "do not believe" any other suspects acted with gunman Shamsud-Din Jabbar to carry out the deadly attack on New Orleans' Bourbon Street on New Year's Day, though he was inspired by the Islamic State terror organization. 

Jabbar, 42, a U.S. Army veteran, is suspected of deliberately driving a pick-up truck into a crowd gathered in the French Quarter of New Orleans to celebrate the new year. The attack killed 14 people and left more than 30 others injured.

In a media briefing, Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, stated unequivocally the attack was an "act of terrorism."

"It was premeditated and an evil act," said Raia, who added that investigators obtained surveillance video of Jabbar placing the explosive devices near the site of the crash. 

Jabbar "specifically picked out Bourbon Street," Raia said, though they're "not sure why." The officer acknowledged Jabbar "was 100 percent inspired by ISIS," an acronym for the Islamic State. Jabbar shared his allegiance to the Islamic State in posts on social media.

Two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found near the crash site, although they were safely recovered and did not detonate. There is no indication that the IEDs were part of a broader, coordinated effort, nor is there any evidence suggesting any other individuals played a role in planning or executing the assault, Raia said.

Jabbar, said Raia, acted independently, inspired by extremist propaganda. FBI investigators "do not believe" anyone else was involved in the attack, said Raia.

The early Wednesday morning attack came just hours before an explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, involving a Tesla Cybertruck containing fireworks and camp fuel canisters. The explosion resulted in the death of a suspect inside the vehicle.

According to three U.S. officials, the person who died in the explosion was identified as Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier who had previously been stationed at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, were not authorized to reveal specific details about his service.

Jabbar and Livelsberger had spent time at Fort Bragg, a massive Army base home to Army special forces command now known as Fort Liberty. However, an official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that there is "no apparent overlap in their assignments there."

The FBI's investigation into both incidents continues, but officials say there is no evidence to suggest the events are related.

The AP also cited two unidentified law enforcement officials, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, who emphasized that there is no indication the men knew each other.

Investigators determined the car-sharing app Turo was used to book both vehicles used in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Described as an Airbnb-style app for cars, Turo allows customers to search for and select vehicles similar to a car rental company. 

A Turo spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal there is no indication that the renter in either case had a "criminal background that would have flagged them as a security threat."

Earlier Thursday, New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell said officials expected to reopen Bourbon Street ahead of the Sugar Bowl, which was postponed following the attack.

"The confidence is there to reopen Bourbon Street to the public before game time today," said Cantrell.