Charles RB
10-29-2010, 08:52 PM
Explosives were found destined from Yemen to Chicago, but they've been neutralised after a Saudi tip-off: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11654390)
President Barack Obama has said initial examinations of two suspicious packages bound for the US show they appeared to have contained explosive materials.
He said the packages, found in the UK and Dubai on two overnight cargo planes from Yemen, were destined for Jewish places of worship in Chicago.
Security alerts are under way in the US, UK and Middle East.
The White House later said Saudi Arabia had provided information that helped identify the threat.
The two packages found in Britain's East Midlands airport and in Dubai have now been made inert, US officials say.
UK Home Secretary Theresa May later said that the device found in Britain "did contain explosive material".
"But it is not yet clear that it was a viable explosive device. The forensic work continues," she added.
The security alert saw two other cargo planes owned by the freight company UPS searched in Newark and Philadelphia.
UPS said it had suspended its shipments out of Yemen.
Another suspect package from Yemen was examined on a delivery lorry in New York, and later declared safe.
In other developments:
* New aviation security measures are being taken in light of the alert, the US Homeland Security Department announces
* The US says that if a terror link is confirmed, the main suspects will be al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen - al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
* US fighter jets escorted Emirates flight 201 from Dubai into New York, with officials saying the action was being taken "out of an abundance of caution" because cargo from Yemen was on board
* Cobra, the UK government's emergency planning committee, met on Friday and was to meet again on Saturday as discussions continue about how to tighten UK security further
...
Mr Obama said he was first informed about the packages late on Thursday and that President Ali Abdallah Saleh of Yemen had pledged his country's full support in investigating the threat.
However, the Yemeni government later expressed astonishment at reports linking the country to the two packages, according to the Associated Press news agency.
It quoted a Yemeni statement as saying that no UPS cargo planes had taken off from Yemen and there had been no direct or indirect flights to British or US airports.
...
US Homeland Security adviser John Brennan thanked the Saudi Arabians for their help.
"Their assistance, along with the hard work of the US counter-terrorism community, the United Kingdom, the UAE, and other friends and partners helped make it possible to increase our vigilance and identify the suspicious packages," he said.
Analysis
Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News
Yemen has risen rapidly towards the top of the list of countries of concern for Western counter-terrorism officials in the past year. The group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - which has found a sanctuary in Yemen's ungoverned spaces - has shown increasing ambition and sophistication in its attempts to target the United States and others.
But while the origin of this plot seems clear, its exact form does not. The presence of explosives in the devices suggests this was no dry run or simply an attempt to cause panic through a hoax.
But forensic experts in the UK have been continuing to study the substances found in the parts for a printer to try to understand exactly what they were and how they were to be used. There appears to be a strong conviction these were parts for a bomb but whether they were complete and how they were to be detonated and against which target remains uncertain.
Another way to put it: terrorists exist and target us, but hey, they get stopped most of the time.
Obviously, the existence of a working system means we clearly need yet more airport security measures WAIT WHAT?
President Barack Obama has said initial examinations of two suspicious packages bound for the US show they appeared to have contained explosive materials.
He said the packages, found in the UK and Dubai on two overnight cargo planes from Yemen, were destined for Jewish places of worship in Chicago.
Security alerts are under way in the US, UK and Middle East.
The White House later said Saudi Arabia had provided information that helped identify the threat.
The two packages found in Britain's East Midlands airport and in Dubai have now been made inert, US officials say.
UK Home Secretary Theresa May later said that the device found in Britain "did contain explosive material".
"But it is not yet clear that it was a viable explosive device. The forensic work continues," she added.
The security alert saw two other cargo planes owned by the freight company UPS searched in Newark and Philadelphia.
UPS said it had suspended its shipments out of Yemen.
Another suspect package from Yemen was examined on a delivery lorry in New York, and later declared safe.
In other developments:
* New aviation security measures are being taken in light of the alert, the US Homeland Security Department announces
* The US says that if a terror link is confirmed, the main suspects will be al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen - al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
* US fighter jets escorted Emirates flight 201 from Dubai into New York, with officials saying the action was being taken "out of an abundance of caution" because cargo from Yemen was on board
* Cobra, the UK government's emergency planning committee, met on Friday and was to meet again on Saturday as discussions continue about how to tighten UK security further
...
Mr Obama said he was first informed about the packages late on Thursday and that President Ali Abdallah Saleh of Yemen had pledged his country's full support in investigating the threat.
However, the Yemeni government later expressed astonishment at reports linking the country to the two packages, according to the Associated Press news agency.
It quoted a Yemeni statement as saying that no UPS cargo planes had taken off from Yemen and there had been no direct or indirect flights to British or US airports.
...
US Homeland Security adviser John Brennan thanked the Saudi Arabians for their help.
"Their assistance, along with the hard work of the US counter-terrorism community, the United Kingdom, the UAE, and other friends and partners helped make it possible to increase our vigilance and identify the suspicious packages," he said.
Analysis
Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News
Yemen has risen rapidly towards the top of the list of countries of concern for Western counter-terrorism officials in the past year. The group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - which has found a sanctuary in Yemen's ungoverned spaces - has shown increasing ambition and sophistication in its attempts to target the United States and others.
But while the origin of this plot seems clear, its exact form does not. The presence of explosives in the devices suggests this was no dry run or simply an attempt to cause panic through a hoax.
But forensic experts in the UK have been continuing to study the substances found in the parts for a printer to try to understand exactly what they were and how they were to be used. There appears to be a strong conviction these were parts for a bomb but whether they were complete and how they were to be detonated and against which target remains uncertain.
Another way to put it: terrorists exist and target us, but hey, they get stopped most of the time.
Obviously, the existence of a working system means we clearly need yet more airport security measures WAIT WHAT?