Bomber in Plot on U.S. Airliner Is Said to Be a Double Agent

New York Times ^ | May 8 , 2012 | SCOTT SHANE and ERIC SCHMITT

[lbryce]

The would-be suicide bomber dispatched by the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda last month to blow up a United States-bound airliner was actually a double agent who infiltrated the terrorist group and volunteered for the suicide mission, American and foreign officials said Tuesday.

In an extraordinary intelligence coup, the agent left Yemen, traveling by way of the United Arab Emirates, and delivered both the innovative bomb designed for his air attack and critical information on the group’s leaders to the C.I.A., Saudi and other foreign intelligence agencies.

After spending weeks at the center of the terrorist network’s most dangerous affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the agent provided critical information that permitted the C.I.A. to direct the drone strike on Sunday that killed Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, the group’s external operations director and a suspect in the bombing of the American destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000.

He also handed over the bomb, designed by the group’s top explosives expert to be invisible to airport security, to the F.B.I., which is analyzing its properties.

Officials would not disclose the agent’s identity, nationality, or the intelligence service that recruited him, though they said it was not the C.I.A. The agent is now safe in Saudi Arabia, officials said. The bombing plot was kept secret for weeks by the C.I.A. and other agencies because they feared retaliation against the agent and his family.

Officials said Tuesday night that risk has now been “mitigated,” evidently by moving both the agent and his relatives to safe locations.

A senior American official said the device was sewn into “custom fit” underwear that would have been very difficult to detect even in a careful pat-down.

[firebrand]

There is WAY too much information in that article. It seems like the government and the New York Times are competing to see who has the biggest mouth and who can endanger the greatest number of Americans.

[Jack Hammer]

So... are we then to assume that the New York Times has once again blown the cover of a CIA asset, potentially putting the lives of our intelligence operatives at risk?

[Fresh Wind]

A senior American official said the device was sewn into “custom fit” underwear that would have been very difficult to detect even in a careful pat-down.

That's OK, the TSA will be glad to do careful strip searches of every man, woman, and child. But they need to have their budget increased so they can hire another million employees, easing the unemployment situation. The economy will benefit and travelers will be even safer. Thank you, Barack Obama!

[winkadink]

I still don’t believe this story. So made up; just another story to get another vote. Truth has nothing to do with this administration.

[JOAT]

So many phony stories.

Yesterday the gun 'hidden' in stuffed animals, today the custom-fitted underwear bombs.

TSA justification for existence tales, meant to convince the weak-minded that surrendering rights for 'safety' is a good idea.

[MamaTexan]

The agent is now safe in Saudi Arabia, officials said.

Oh...you mean the same country that 15 of the 19 terrorist involved in 9/11 were from?

He's a double agent, all right. The question is for WHO?

[bgill]

1984 = 2012