Explosive found in Dubai, part of US terror probe
Explosive found in Dubai linked to mail bomb terror plot; Al-Qaida in Yemen suspected


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Activity around UPS containers in the cargo area of East Midlands Airport, near Nottingham central England late Friday Oct. 29, 2010. A suspicious package on a cargo flight at a British airport sparked a security alert in at least two United States cities . Police were called to a freight distribution centre at East Midlands Airport after officials raised concerns during a routine search. (AP Photo/ David Jones/PA)
Eileen Sullivan and Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press, On Friday October 29, 2010, 3:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A package containing explosive materials was intercepted in Dubai on its way from Yemen to a Chicago Jewish institution, and authorities in London were investigating a suspicious package in England as part of a terror probe that spanned three continents, officials said Friday.

U.S. officials said they were increasingly confident that the packages were part of a plot by Yemen's al-Qaida branch, the same group responsible for an attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner last Christmas.

Intelligence officials have been monitoring the suspected plot for days, an official said. The packages were discovered in England and Dubai late Thursday after a foreign intelligence service picked up information related to Yemen and passed it on to the U.S., one official said.

An official United Arab Emirates security source said the package discovered there was a device containing explosive materials.

No explosives have been found in the U.S. Items continued to be tested in England.

U.S. national security officials alerted President Barack Obama to a "potential terrorist threat," the White House said. Obama planned a public statement on the developments later Friday.

The two packages were addressed to Chicago religious sites, Chicago FBI spokesman Ross Rice said. Both were sent from the same address in Yemen to Jewish organizations in Chicago, U.S. officials said. Other than Rice, all the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The package in England, discovered aboard a plane in East Midlands, north of London, contained a printer toner cartridge with wires and powder. It was found during routine screening of cargo in England, prompting authorities to scour three planes and a truck in the United States on Friday, U.S. officials said.

"The president directed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and to determine whether these threats are a part of any additional terrorist plotting," the White House said in a statement.

Yemeni officials said they had launched a terrorism investigation, and Scotland Yard said its investigators were testing a number of items seized from the plane in East Midlands.

In the U.S., searches were conducted in Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and New York City. Local officials said all of the suspicious items and planes that were searched had been given the "all clear."

"As a precaution, DHS has taken a number of steps to enhance security," the Homeland Security Department said in a statement. "Some of these security measures will be visible while others will not."

Since the failed Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner, Yemen has been a focus for U.S. counterterrorism officials. Before that attack, the U.S. regarded al-Qaida's branch in Yemen as primarily a threat in the region, not to the United States.

The Yemen branch known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has since become a leading source of terrorist propaganda and recruiting. Authorities believe about 300 al-Qaida members or cells operate in Yemen.

The Yemeni government has stepped up counterterrorism operations, with help from the U.S. military and intelligence officials. Mohammed Shayba, general-director of the state airline's cargo department, said the government is conducting an investigation.

"Those in charge are in constant meetings and they are investigating and taking the issue seriously," he told The Associated Press.

Associated Press writers Adam Schreck in Dubai, Maryclaire Dale, Randy Pennell and Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia, Joshua Freed in Minneapolis, Colleen Long in New York, Shawn Marsh in Trenton, N.J., Ahmed al-Haj in San'a, Yemen, Lolita Baldor in Washington, and Sylvia Hui, Jill Lawless, Paisley Dodds, Greg Katzand and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

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15 commentsShow: Newest FirstOldest FirstHighest RatedMost Replied Post a comment Comments 1 - 10 of 15FirstPrevNextLast 0 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 0 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! User 2 minutes ago Report Abuse If you believe a fully loaded 757 hit the Pentagon and then evaporated leaving no wings, luggage, seats, bodies, titanium engines, fuselage or a tail section THEN you have been fooled by the ANTICHRIST and his Synagogue of Satan.Reply
0 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 3 users disliked this commentJon H 7 minutes ago Report Abuse Hey P....since Obama took office, no terror threat in the US???? I guess it doesn't phase you in the least but on behalf of myself and every other American, we are scared to death every time he makes a move to do anything.......not enough terror for ya, huh?Reply
1 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 8 users disliked this commentp 15 minutes ago Report Abuse Vote democrat, since Obama took office no terror attacks in the U.S.!Reply
1 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 2 users disliked this commentPT 16 minutes ago Report Abuse Ok, and we allow packages or freight from Yemen to enter the US because....?Reply
0 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 0 users disliked this commentDESI 18 minutes ago Report Abuse Send in the drones........there ought to be drones......don't bother....there here.Reply
1 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 12 users disliked this commentp 35 minutes ago Report Abuse Vote democrat and keep your country safe!Comment hidden due to low rating. Show Comment
Reply
0 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 1 users disliked this commentNeal L. 1 hour ago Report Abuse Hope your all right! But if not? Time to ride the train.Replies (1)
1 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 7 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! User 1 hour ago Report Abuse one day wallstreet willnot have enough money to pay yahoo for advertisement so that they can @#$% here.wallstreet is dying...use google you will know most things about Economy...Reply
4 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 6 users disliked this commentLesEnder 1 hour ago Report Abuse Looks like "fear industry" decided that populace was too self-assured. Needed to crank up fear factor to justify its existence!!!!Reply
3 users liked this comment Vote for this comment Vote for this comment 2 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! User 2 hours ago Report Abuse Seems to be quite a few statements from people ' who were not authorized to speak ' or were they just not authorized to use their names ;-)Reply
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IAmTheWalrus wrote:the only thing that's surprising is that they're too lazy to make the bombs in the United States.

Bomb tip-off came from Al Qaeda insider

By Emma Alberici and Kim Landers

Posted Tue Nov 2, 2010 9:07am AEDT

The tip-off that led to the discovery of parcel bombs on two cargo planes en route to the United States last week apparently came from a former member of Al Qaeda.

Two packages containing powerful explosives were intercepted in Dubai and Britain on Friday, addressed to synagogues in Chicago.

Former Al Qaeda member Jabr Al-Faifi based in Yemen turned himself in to Saudi authorities two weeks ago.

The man is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was returned to Saudi Arabia four years ago for rehabilitation but later escaped to Yemen and rejoined Al Qaeda.

Officials in Yemen are still looking for a woman who is believed to have dropped off the mail bombs at freight companies.

The FBI and US Homeland Security department are urging police and emergency personnel to be on the lookout for suspicious foreign packages that do not have return addresses.

American security experts are heading to Yemen to help train authorities who screen cargo before it is loaded onto planes.

In the UK, prime minister David Cameron chaired a meeting of his government's emergency response committee overnight. It is the third time it has met since a bomb was found at a British airport.

Decisions were made to ban all cargo flights from Yemen and Somalia.

Toner cartridges heavier than 500 grams have also been banned from coming into or leaving Britain whether on freight flights or in air passenger hand luggage unless they are sent by reputable and recognised consigners.

'Terrorist cancer'

Mr Cameron warns the threat from the region, particularly Yemen, has increased and the world needs to come together to address the issue.

"It is clear we must take every possible step to work with our partners in the Arab world to cut out the terrorist cancer that lurks in the Arabian peninsula," he said.

Both bombs were carried in the hold of passenger flights, suggesting the terrorists were targeting travellers rather than cargo flights as was first assumed.

The bomb found in Britain had already been to four locations before the transit at East Midlands Airport.

German officials had heard of the threat after the flight left its shores.

They have now disclosed the two bombs contained 300 grams and 400 grams of the plastic explosive PETN.

British home secretary Theresa May told MPs that was enough to blow a plane out of the sky.

"The devices were probably intended to detonate mid-air and to destroy the cargo aircraft on which they were being transported," she said.

By contrast the device the so-called underwear bomber tried to set off on a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day contained 80 grams of the explosive.

Security blindspot

The British Airline Pilots Association says sister organisations around the world have been highlighting the threat to cargo flights for years.

But it says governments had chosen instead to focus on adding layer upon layer of security measures to passenger screening at airports.

It is estimated around 60 per cent of all freight cargo travels in passenger planes.

Ms May says the government's crisis response aimed to address the blindspot in international aviation security exposed by the Al Qaeda plot.

A full review of airport security is underway.

"At this stage we have no information to suggest that another attack of a similar nature by Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula is imminent," she said.

"But this organisation is very active - during this year it has repeatedly attacked targets in Yemen."

On April 26 and October 6, Al Qaeda in Yemen attacked and attempted to kill British diplomats based in Sana'a.

As the home secretary sat down she was questioned by the opposition, who wanted to know how the coalition's spending cuts marry with the increased security demands given that 10 per cent of counter terrorism police numbers are being cut.

Meanwhile, authorities in Dubai are tracing the serial numbers of a mobile phone circuit board and computer printer used in the mail bomb sent from Yemen and found in Dubai.

Those numbers are being shared with other countries, including the US, in an effort to trace the origins of the bomb parts.