Al Qaeda underwear bomber was double agent, claim reports | Las Vegas Herald

Al Qaeda underwear bomber was double agent, claim reports

Las Vegas Herald Wednesday 9th May, 2012

• Double agent had infiltrated Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)

• It was a new type of non-metallic bomb

• Bombing was to be carried out to mark the first anniversary of killing of Bin Laden

NEW YORK - A would-be 'underwear bomber' ordered by the Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen to blow up a US-bound airliner was actually a double agent who infiltrated the group, US media reported.

Two days after the White House announced that a suicide bombing plot by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had been successfully thwarted, it emerged that the man was working as an undercover informer with Saudi intelligence and the CIA.

According to US officials, the double agent spent a few weeks with AQAP and convinced his handlers to give him the new type of non-metallic bomb.

The bomb was sewn into "custom fit" underwear that would have been difficult to detect in a pat-down at airports, an official said.

The double agent also handed over information that allowed the US to launch a drone strike on Sunday that killed Fahd al-Quso, a senior figure wanted for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, US media reported citing US officials.

According to reports, the device is being analysed at the FBI's bomb laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to see if it could have evaded airport security.

The device appears to be an upgraded version of the 'underwear bomb' that failed to blow up on board a passenger jet on Christmas Day 2009.

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