(CBS News) The author of al Qaeda's latest bomb-making magazine said
that the terror group will continue to pursue attempts to blow up U.S.
jetliners and isn't concerned that such plots might be foiled because
they represent "such a good bargain."
Abdullah Zul
Bejadayn, believed to be a Saudi explosives expert who has been featured
in previous bomb-making video tutorials, said in the second edition of
"Al Qaeda Airlines" that the militants "do not mind at all in this stage
if [plots] are intercepted. It is such a good bargain for us to spread
fear amongst the enemy and keep him on his toes in exchange [for] a few
months of work and a few thousand bucks."
A double agent
working with U.S., Saudi and British intelligence recently infiltrated
al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and thwarted a plan to use an
underwear bomb to attack a U.S.-bound airplane - a plot similar to a
failed attack on Christmas Day 2009. The agent volunteered to carry out
the suicide mission, which originated in Yemen, and instead delivered
the updated non-metallic explosive device to American officials.
The
latest al Qaeda publication outlines major plots from the last decade
-the shoe-bomb plot in 2001, the attacks in Madrid and London in 2004
and 2005, respectively, among others - and discusses materials
frequently used in constructing bombs and techniques for avoiding
security, though Bejadayn said he "was instructed not to give much
detail as the enemy is watching us closely in a bid to get a clearer
picture."
CBS News national security correspondent Bob
Orr reports that U.S. officials are aware of the publication but say
it's not news that al Qaeda continues to target U.S. aviation. The
recently thwarted plot out of Yemen demonstrates that al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula is working to develop explosives that can be smuggled
past aviation checkpoints and onto U.S.-bound flights.
The
chief bomb-maker for AQAP, Ibrahim al-Asiri, has quickly risen on the
U.S. public enemies list. While al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri may be
the world's "most wanted terrorist," sources say al-Asiri may actually
be the most dangerous.
U.S. officials briefly thought
al-Asiri was killed in the same drone strike last fall that eliminated
AQAP operational leader Anwar al-Awlaki. But al-Asiri survived the
September 30 attack.
Al-Asiri was the architect of the
2009 "underwear bomb" worn by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab aboard Northwest
flight 253. Al-Asiri also built the carefully concealed bombs, hidden
in printers aboard two cargo planes in 2010. U.S. investigators suspect
al-Asiri was behind the latest device which is now being studied by FBI
explosives experts.
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com
