(Washington Post) Peter Finn and Mary Beth Sheridan - Investigators examining explosives found in packages intercepted in Britain and Dubai suspect the material, preliminarily identified as PETN (pentaerythritol trinitrate), points not only to the role of an al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen but to Saudi bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, 28, who last year sent his brother to his death in an effort to kill Saudi prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a top counterterrorism official. Asiri is also believed to have built the underwear bomb that a Nigerian man trained in Yemen attempted to detonate last Christmas Day on a commercial aircraft approaching Detroit. A British minister said Saturday that the bomb found in Britain, in a package destined for a Chicago synagogue, was "viable" and could have brought down the UPS plane that was carrying it. U.S. officials said the packages were intercepted following a tip from intelligence officials in Saudi Arabia.
2010-11-01 09:59:18Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive