Al-Qaida 'working on airliner bomb'

AL-QAIDA terrorists are training to use a chemical-based bomb which could be stuffed into clothes, pillows or toys and smuggled on board an airliner, it was reported yesterday.

United States intelligence officials warned that the terror network had showed a "persistence" in trying to master the explosive technique.

The bomb can be made by combining a number of easily obtainable chemical products. Modified buttons, zips or watches could be used as detonators. Airport security staff and airlines worldwide were warned of the new al-Qaida threat by the US Department of Homeland Security in August, the Washington Post reported.