Dubai/Washington: An official security source says UAE authorities 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 last week.
The security source said Monday the UAE is sharing the numbers with other countries including the United States in an effort to track the origins of the bomb parts.
Meanwhile, the US and allied governments tightened their scrutiny of air cargo and shipped packages yesterday, asking consumers and businesses for more vigilance as investigators scanned for more mail bombs possibly sent from Yemen.
US counterterrorism officials warned local law enforcement and first responders yesterday to be on the lookout for mail with unusual characteristics that could hide dangerous substances inside.
The FBI and Homeland Security Department cautioned that foreign-origin packages without return addresses and excessive postage require a second look, according to an advisory sent to local officials around the country.
Blowing up planes
Authorities believe Yemeni-based terrorists sent two mail bombs addressed to Jewish synagogues last week, but the devices may have been aimed at blowing up planes in flight. While officials caught two bombs in the UAE and Britain, US officials say there may be more in the system. A former Al Qaida member provided the pivotal information that led investigators to a pair of explosives-laden cargo packages last week, Britain's BBC reported yesterday.
Jaber Al Faifi turned himself in to authorities in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, the broadcaster quoted unidentified officials as saying. Remorse then led him to divulge the information that led to the discovery in Britain and Dubai of the packages sent from Yemen.
Al Faifi reportedly was at one time held at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention centre. He allegedly joined Al Qaida in Yemen after his release, despite having participated in a rehabilitation programme in Saudi Arabia.
Major cargo firms have already suspended shipments from Yemen and yesterday, Germany's aviation authority said the country has extended its ban on cargo aircraft from Yemen to include passenger flights amid the current terrorist threat.
Cologne hub
One of the bombs that was mailed from Yemen and found by authorities was routed to London through the UPS hub in Cologne.
German aviation agency spokeswoman Cornelia Cramer said yesterday that passenger flights from Yemen were being suspended until further notice. Germany stopped package deliveries from Yemen over the weekend.
The mail bomb plot was narrowly averted, officials said Sunday. One device almost slipped through Britain and another seized in Dubai was unwittingly flown on two passenger jets.
Investigators were still piecing together the potency and construction of two bombs they believed were designed by the top explosives expert working for Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based faction thought to be behind the plot. Yemeni authorities hunted suspects linked to the group, but released a female computer engineering student arrested Saturday, saying someone else had posed as her in signing the shipping documents.
Authorities admitted how close the terrorists came to getting their bombs through, and a senior US official said investigators were still trying to figure out if other devices remained at large.
