Top US Official: Bomb Plot Has 'Hallmarks' of al-Qaida

Photo: AP

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (file photo)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says two explosive-laden packages sent from Yemen and intended for the United States have the "hallmarks of al-Qaida," specifically al-Qaida's branch in Yemen.

Napolitano also told U.S. media Saturday the investigation is ongoing and that the content of the packages must be analyzed to draw the proper conclusions.

But she said the packages appeared to contain the chemical explosive PETN (pentaerythritol trinitrate), the substance used in a failed plot to bomb a U.S. airliner last year. That plot has been linked to al-Qaida's branch in Yemen known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S., Yemeni and British authorities are searching for the suspected terrorists who sent the packages, intended for Jewish places of worship in the city of Chicago. They were found on planes in Britain and Dubai.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday called the packages a "credible terrorist threat."

Mr. Obama also said the packages originated in Yemen, where the government has intensified efforts to combat al-Qaida militants.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has pledged full cooperation with the investigation into the packages.

U.S. officials say the packages were discovered after Saudi Arabian intelligence gave the United States information related to the plot. The discovery prompted intensified security and searches of cargo planes at airports in the eastern United States.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.