US 'foils new underwear bomb plot' by al-Qaeda in Yemen

Leon Panetta said security services would "do everything necessary to keep America safe"

A plot by al-Qaeda in Yemen to detonate an upgraded version of the failed 2009 "underwear bomb" has been disrupted, US officials say.

The device was seized by intelligence operatives and is in US custody undergoing technical and forensic analysis, the FBI has said.

Reports said no target had been chosen and no plane tickets purchased by the time the alleged plot was foiled.

There is no indication on the status of the would-be bomber.

"As a result of close co-operation with our security and intelligence partners overseas, an improvised explosive device (IED) designed to carry out a terrorist attack has been seized abroad," the FBI said in a statement.

"Initial exploitation indicates that the device is very similar to IEDs that have been used previously by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in attempted terrorist attacks, including against aircraft and for targeted assassinations," it added.

President Barack Obama was first informed of the plot in April, White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said, adding that the device did not pose a threat to the public.

The BBC's Mark Mardell says that the plot, disrupted as a result of US co-operation with other unnamed intelligence agencies, appears to have been caught at a relatively early stage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17985709#sa-ns_mchannel=r...