Authorities are investigating "suspicious packages" that were on planes in transit
from Yemen to the United States. Parcels and cargo planes have been searched in the
US, UK, and Dubai, and it's been confirmed that some of the packages contained explosives.
Authorities
on three continents thwarted multiple terrorist attacks aimed at the United States
from Yemen yesterday (Friday), seizing two explosive packages addressed to Chicago-area
synagogues and packed aboard cargo jets.
US President Barack Obama called the
coordinated attacks a «credible terrorist threat,» and U.S. officials said they were
increasingly confident that the group responsible for the failed Detroit airliner
bombing last Christmas Christmas - Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -
is responsible for this latest attempt, with preliminary tests indicating the packages
contained the same chemical used in the Christmas attack.
President Obama the
Yemeni government is cooperating.
The radical U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar
al-Awlaki, who now is in hiding in Yemen, is believed to have helped inspire recent
attacks including the Fort Hood shooting, the Times Square bombing attempt and the
failed Detroit airliner bombing last Christmas Day.
Another American hiding
in Yemen, Samir Khan, has declared himself a traitor and has helped produce al-Qaida
propaganda.
U.S. intelligence officials warned last month that terrorists hoped
to ship chemical and biological materials as part of an attack on the US and other
Western countries using the mail.
Obama administration officials say the United
States is not assuming that the attacks were disrupted and is remaining vigilant.