Double Agent In US Plane Bomb Plot ‘British National’
By Ria Novosti
The spy who helped thwart a plot to bomb a U.S.-bound plane was a British national of Middle Eastern origin, U.S. media reported, quoting unidentified sources.
The CIA was reported on Monday to have prevented an attempt by al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen to blow up “a new generation bomb” onboard a U.S.-bound airliner. The attack was due to coincide with the anniversary of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s killing by U.S. special forces in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.
NBC News said British intelligence was “heavily involved” in recruiting the spy. British officials declined to comment on the reports, the BBC said.
Media reports previously quoted U.S. officials as saying the man was a double agent recruited by Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency. After spending many weeks at a terrorist base in Yemen, he was sent by al-Qaeda to attack the plane, but left the country and gave the device to U.S. intelligence. Officials said the non-metallic bomb was designed to be invisible to airport security systems.
The insider also provided information that allowed the United States to launch a drone strike in Yemen, which killed Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, the terrorist group’s external operations director and one of the FBI’s ten most wanted terrorists.
