Dubai: Authorities in Yemen are checking dozens of packages after two bombs were found in air cargo packages on Friday, resulting in a high-level security alert around the globe.
One of the bombs was found at a FedEx cargo facility in Dubai, the other at East Midlands Airport in the UK — but both contained sophisticated mobile phone circuitry and PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, a powerful explosive, and were hidden in printer cartridges. Both bombs were addressed to synagogues in the Chicago area.
In London, Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May said the bomb found on a US-bound UPS cargo plane was "viable" and could have brought down the plane if it had exploded. Effective immediately, Britain is stopping all unaccompanied air freight from Yemen into, or routed through, Britain.
"I can confirm the device was viable and could have exploded," May said. "The target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down."
US President Barack Obama described the bomb plot as "a credible terrorist threat".
"We do not believe that the perpetrators of the attack would have known the location of the device when it was planned to explode," May said, speaking after chairing a meeting of the British government's ‘Cobra' crisis committee. She said Britain would continue to work closely with international colleagues to find out more about the plot and bring to justice those responsible.
Flight restrictions
"At this stage there is no information to indicate another attack is imminent. The [international terrorism] threat level in this country is at severe, that means a terrorist attack in this country is highly likely," May said, adding she did not plan immediately to change the threat level. Direct cargo and passenger flights from Yemen to Britain were suspended in January, following an attempt to bomb an aircraft destined for Detroit, but May said more precautionary measures were needed.
In the US, officials said they were increasingly certain that Al Qaida's Yemeni operatives — a group also responsible for a failed bid to down a passenger jet from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas, were behind Friday's attacks. In that incident, PETN was also used.
Saudi security officials had tipped off security officials in Washington about the likelihood of an attack, and checks on air cargo have been tightened as a result.
A Yemeni security official said investigators there were questioning staff belonging to shipping companies and were examining at least 24 other parcels. Officials in the US and Britain, however, are concerned that record keeping in Sana'a at the air cargo outlets may not be detailed or accurate enough to be of intelligence value. Airport employees at Sana'a were also being questioned by investigators.
"The forensic analysis is under way," Obama's counter-terror chief John Brennan said yesterday. "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the [devices were] intended to do harm."
While Obama didn't mention the Yemeni branch by name, Brennan said it was the most active Al Qaida franchise and anyone associated with it was a subject of concern.
Professional know-how
The bombs were disguised as printer cartridges, using a Nokia mobile phone for circuitry. If the devices had exploded in mid-air, they had the potential to bring down the planes or at least cause serious damage.
In Dubai, police said the bomb found at the FedEx facility "was prepared in a professional manner and equipped with an electrical circuit linked to a mobile telephone card concealed in the printer".
A recorded message at UPS headquarters in the US, when called by Gulf News, said that effective immediately, all service for air cargo from Yemen had been suspended. The message said the company was co-operating fully with authorities investigating the incident.
The bombs were addressed to Chicago-area synagogues and the intended attacks were timed to coincide with US mid-term elections, the campaigns for which have been dominated by domestic, rather than international concerns. Had the bombs reached their intended targets or exploded in mid air, the focus of the elections would have been radically altered, analysts said yesterday.
Last month, US intelligence officials had warned that terrorists were planning to send biological or explosive material through the mail service.
The US Department of Homeland Security said it was stepping up airline security after the failed terror attack, but White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said there was no need for Americans to change their travel plans. Obama did not alter his internal travel plans as a result of the plot.
