Saudi man 'key suspect' in jet bomb plot, says US
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
US officials have suggested a Saudi bombmaker is the key suspect in last week's attempt to send two parcel bombs from Yemen to the US on cargo planes, reports BBC.
They named the man as Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who is said to be the main bombmaker for al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch.
It has emerged that one of the bombs was carried on two passenger planes before being seized in Dubai.
A Yemeni woman suspected of sending the bombs has been freed. She said she was the victim of identity theft.
Britain's authorities have come under criticism after the initial failure to find one of the two bombs on a plane at East Midlands airport.
Both devices - hidden inside printer toner cartridges - contained the powerful plastic explosive PETN, which is difficult to detect.
US intelligence officials said they believed that Asiri, said to be in his 20s, was the key suspect behind the failed plot.
Most of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's more dangerous operatives are Saudis, driven out of their own country by a highly effective counter-terrorism campaign that has not yet been matched in Yemen.
Some were released from Saudi rehabilitation centres for good behaviour and some have even spent time as prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, an experience that has redoubled their hatred of America and the West.
Today, attention is focusing on an alleged Saudi bombmaker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, believed to be the man who built last week's parcel bombs.
They named the man as Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who is said to be the main bombmaker for al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch.
It has emerged that one of the bombs was carried on two passenger planes before being seized in Dubai.
A Yemeni woman suspected of sending the bombs has been freed. She said she was the victim of identity theft.
Britain's authorities have come under criticism after the initial failure to find one of the two bombs on a plane at East Midlands airport.
Both devices - hidden inside printer toner cartridges - contained the powerful plastic explosive PETN, which is difficult to detect.
US intelligence officials said they believed that Asiri, said to be in his 20s, was the key suspect behind the failed plot.
Most of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's more dangerous operatives are Saudis, driven out of their own country by a highly effective counter-terrorism campaign that has not yet been matched in Yemen.
Some were released from Saudi rehabilitation centres for good behaviour and some have even spent time as prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, an experience that has redoubled their hatred of America and the West.
Today, attention is focusing on an alleged Saudi bombmaker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, believed to be the man who built last week's parcel bombs.