Police in Yemeni capital San'a have arrested a woman suspected of sending explosive packages found on U.S.-bound planes, Al-Jazeera reported on Saturday.
One of the packages was found on Friday on a United Parcel Service cargo plane at East Midlands Airport north of London, while the other was discovered at a FedEx facility in Dubai.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told a news conference earlier on Saturday that special services of the United States and the United Arab Emirates have provided him with information that identified the woman as a suspect.
"Yemen is determined to fight terror but will not allow anyone to intervene in its affairs," Saleh said.
A Yemeni police source told Al-Jazeera that police are searching for other people involved in the plot.
A number of U.S. officials said they were confident that al-Qaeda's Yemen branch was behind the plot.
U.S. President Barack Obama called he attempt to send explosive-laden parcels to Chicago synagogues "credible terrorist threat."
Washington Times reported that chemical explosive pentaerythritol trinitrate (PETN), used in the bombs, points to the role of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen.
"The targeting manner carries characteristics similar to methods previously carried out by terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda," the paper quotes Dubai authorities as saying in a statement.
PETN was used in the attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on last year's Christmas Day and an unsuccessful attack on Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a deputy interior minister in charge of anti-terrorism efforts.
A federal law enforcement official told Los Angeles Times the packages contained "about a pound each" of PETN.
"The fact that PETN was used in this plot is worrisome," an unnamed a U.S. intelligence official was quoted as saying. "PETN is hard to detect and lends itself to being concealed. It is not hard to make, but it takes some sophistication to conceal the explosives in the right way. It packs a punch. You don't need that much of it to blow a hole in an aircraft."
One of the bombs was reportedly wired for remote detonation via cellphone and the other was linked to a timer but lacked a triggering device. The bombs were made to look like ink cartridges.
DUBAI, October 31 (RIA Novosti)
