US identify key suspect in Yemen bomb plot

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.

Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, considered a key figure in al-Qaida’s most active franchise, is now the chief suspect behind the mail bombs sent from Yemen and bound for the United States, according to US intelligence officials.

Together with a US-born preacher, Yemeni militants, and former Saudi inmates of Guantanamo, al-Asiri makes up the leadership of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Forensic analysis indicates that al-Asiri, who is living in Yemen, built all three devices and is believed to have a fair degree of skill and training, although all the operations have been unsuccessful.

British Home Secretary Theresa May said the bomb discovered on the plane that landed in England was powerful enough to bring down the aircraft. A US official and a British security consultant said the device, hidden in a printer cartridge, was sophisticated enough that it nearly slipped past British investigators even after they were tipped off.

Yemeni security officials said they are searching for al-Asiri, who is believed to be in Marib province.

His most effective operation was the attack on top Saudi counter-terrorism official Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, in which he recruited his younger brother to pose as a repentant militant.

The two abruptly left their Mecca home three years ago, said the father, a four-decade veteran of the Saudi military. Aside from a brief phone call to say they had left the country, he never heard from them again.

With the bomb hidden in a body cavity, Abdullah approached the prince and blew himself up. The prince was only wounded.

All three bombs contained a high explosive known as PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which was also used by convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid when in 2001 he tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight.