The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to destroy a US-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

THE bombs used in the cargo plane terror plot were at least 50 times more powerful than would be needed to blow a hole in an aircraft fuselage, officials said yesterday.

The tip-off that foiled the airline ink bomb plot came from a leading al-Qaida militant who surrendered to Saudi Arabia, Yemeni intelligence sources said today.

Air travellers face no let up in stringent security checks after it emerged one of the cargo plane bombs was transported on passenger aircraft before being found.

HE is suspected of packing explosives into the underwear of a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas and sent his own brother on a suicide mission against a top Saudi official.

A parcel carrying the mail bomb found in Dubai travelled on two separate passenger planes, it was revealed today.

Police in Yemen arrested a woman suspected of sending a pair of bombs powerful enough to take down aircraft.