WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: Two mail bombs sent from Yemen to synagogues in Chicago unleashed fears of a renewed al-Qaeda terror offensive against the US and European nations, with President Barack Obama saying that it was a “credible terrorist threat”.
The brazen plot unfolded when authorities from three continents — US, UK and Yemen — thwarted the attacks by seizing explosives in the two packages on cargo planes in the UAE and England.
The explosives were discovered overnight on cargo planes in transit to the US — one in Dubai and other in Britain’s East Midland Airport.
The packages were addressed to Synagogues in Chicago.
The White House said it had been tipped off by Saudi authorities and a spokesman said, “Washington is grateful…for their assistance in developing information that led to intercepting the threat emanating from Yemen.”
The plot sent tremors throughout the security set up in the US and Western Europe where police and intelligence men searched for suspicious packages on board planes and temporarily froze all inbound cargo from Yemen.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the packages contained the powerful industrial explosives PETN, the same chemicals as was used by a Nigerian al-Qaeda suspect in a failed Christmas attack in December last year.
Warning that the US will not spare any effort to investigate the origins of Chicago-bound packages, President Obama said that Washington will continue to pursue additional protective measures as long as it takes to ensure safety of its citizens.
Though he did not named al-Qaeda, Obama made it clear he suspected the group’s Yemen-based affiliates of being behind the plot.
At a hurriedly convened press conference late Friday afternoon, in the midst of his election campaign, Obama said intelligence and law enforcement professionals from US and other countries have identified two suspicious packages bound for the US — specifically, two places of Jewish worship in Chicago.
“Those packages had been located in Dubai and East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom. An initial examination of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive material,” he said.
Obama was alerted to this threat Thursday night by his top counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan. He directed the Department of Homeland Security and all it law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take whatever steps are necessary.
“We know that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attack against our homeland, our citizens and our friends and allies,” Obama said.
-PTI
