Yemen parcel bombmaker believed to be al Qaeda terrorist Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri
The man believed to have made the parcel bombs is Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri, a Yemen-based terrorist described as one of the most ruthless and fanatical of all al Qaeda's followers.
By William Lowther in Washington and Telegraph reporter in Yemen
Published: 9:00PM BST 30 Oct 2010
Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri US intelligence officials say the detonator on one of the devices is almost exactly the same as one he is thought to have made for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Underpants Bomber.
Originally born to a pious family in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim is one of 85 people on the kingdom's list of wanted terrorists. After serving jail time in his home country, he fled to neighbouring Yemen two years ago with his brother Abdullah to become key members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has bases in the lawless mountain areas beyond the writ of central government.
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Cargo plane bomb plot in pictures The slightly-built 28-year-old, who is the son of a retired soldier, is believed to be the movement's resident bombmaking expert - skills he first put to chilling use in a suicide attack in which he recruited his own younger brother, Abdullah, 23, to act as the "martyr".
The attack was an audacious attempt on the life of the Saudi Deputy Minister of the Interior, Prince Muhammad Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, who has personally led an innovative programme in the kingdom to encourage jihadis to reform.
Posing as a jihadist keen to repent, Abdullah gained a private audience with Prince Muhammad in his office, and then detonated a bomb hidden in his own body. It failed to kill the prince but killed Abdullah, who is believed to have been brainwashed into believing in jihadist ideology by his brother.
Following on from sacrificing his own sibling, Ibrahim Asiri is believed to have designed the underwear bomb used by Abdulmutallab in his failed mid-air attack on an airliner over Detroit last Christmas.
US intelligence believes that Ibrahim is now in regular contact with the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is likewise on the run in Yemen. Known as the the so-called "YouTube" jihadist, sermons by al-Awlaki posted on the internet are believed to have seduced hundreds of new recruits into joining al Qaeda.
One serving US intelligence officer told The Sunday Telegraph that there was now debate underway about pressuring Yemen into allowing the CIA to base armed drone aircraft there for a sustained attack on al Qaeda bases.
This would be a similar offensive to the one that has been underway for some time against al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, although it carries the risk of backfiring if civilian casualties are sustained.
Drone attacks have already been used in Yemen from time to time, but the inability so far of Yemen's weak government to reign in the militants means Washington believes such strikes may have to beefed up.
Yesterday, the atmosphere the Yemeni capital, San'aa, was tense, with traffic jams across the city as police and soldiers manned additional checkpoints and vehicle searches. Nestling in mountains, the ancient capital already has many hallmarks of a city frequently wracked by terrorist violence. Toyota pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns guard courthouses and government buildings, and the US and British embassies - both of which have been directly attacked in the past two years - are virtual fortresses encircled by 20 foot high bombproof walls. It was, however, business as usual at the San'aa bureaus of Fedex and UPS, the two international delivery companies via whom the bombs bound for Chicago were posted. The two firms both have shabby offices on Hadda Street, a busy thoroughfare frequented by young Yemenis and expats. Nervous-looking staff at both branches declined to comment on the investigation when approached by The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, although outside the office of Fedex a group of private security guards appeared to be on watch.
For ordinary Yemenis, who are now used to terrorist violence on a daily basis, news of the latest terror plot has been greeted with little more than a resigned shrug. "If Yemen's on the news it means more police and more checkpoints on the streets the next day," moaned one taxi driver.
Yesterday, the Yemeni authorities were questioning cargo workers at the airport and employees of the local shipping companies contracted to work with FedEx. However, while the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has pledged his full co-operation with the US authorities, the reaction of other Yemeni officials to the parcel bomb plot so far has been to downplay the incident.
A statement distributed by Saba, the government's official news agency, warned the media against "rush decisions in a case as sensitive as this one and before investigations reveal the truth."
It claimed that security measures at Yemeni airports had been tightened, with modern screening systems introduced for all flights. At the airport yesterday, where extra security guards were on duty, employees claimed to be bemused by the plot claim.
"There is no way these packages could have come from Sana'a airport," said worker Abdul Rowi. "We check every single bag, we have no idea how these packages entered the airport."
According to a senior governmental official who spoke to the Yemen Post, Yemeni security forces arrested two local women under suspicion of sending the packages to the United States.
The Yemeni official claimed that the two women sent the packages in order to damage the reputation of Yemen rather than on Al-Qaeda's account. That report, however, appears to conflict with British and US claims that the bombs were viable devices, leading some to describe it as a crude attempt at news management by the Yemeni authorities.
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