The US-bound package discovered on a plane in Dubai contained explosives and an electrical circuit linked to a mobile phone Sim card, police said yesterday.
The device was prepared in a “professional manner” and bore the hallmarks of terror groups such as al-Qaeda, Dubai police said. The explosive material PETN, or pentaerythritol trinitrate, was used.
This was the same chemical found after the failed attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit last Christmas.
A major international terror alert was launched after security staff found printer cartridges with wires attached at cargo hubs in East Midlands Airport in the UK and Dubai on Friday.
The packages were addressed to synagogues in Chicago, and were on Chicago-bound cargo planes that had set off from Yemen.
“The parcel was prepared in a professional manner where a closed electrical circuit was connected to a mobile phone Sim card hidden inside the printer,” Dubai police said.
“This tactic carries the hallmarks of methods used previously by terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda.”
The bomb also contained lead azide, an explosive compound which can be used in detonators.
The police statement continued: “Swift action has enabled Dubai police to foil a potential act of terror in the place the package was bound.”
The police said they were tipped off by a call from abroad. The phone call warned of the possibility of an explosive device hidden in postal packages onboard the FedEx flight from Yemen.
US president Barack Obama said on Friday night he was dealing with a “credible terrorist threat”.
British home secretary Theresa May confirmed the package at East Midlands Airport, close to Nottingham, did contain explosive material, but said it was not yet clear whether it was a “viable explosive device”.
Forensic experts were this weekend examining the finds, which have been linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen.
The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that an MI6 officer responsible for Yemen had received a tip-off.
Cobra, the UK government’s emergency planning committee, was meeting last night to discuss the situation but British prime minister David Cameron, who is at his Chequers country residence, was not due to attend or take part.
Downing Street said the prime minister had spoken to the home secretary on Friday night, and was being kept up to date with the situation.
The suspicious package in Britain was on a United Parcel Service (UPS) plane that flew in from Yemen’s capital Sana’a.
It was discovered in the early hours of Friday following a tip-off from Saudi intelligence sources. Police put up a security cordon around the airport. It was lifted at 10am later that morning, only to be reimposed four hours later. That reportedly followed the discovery of another suspicious device linked to a mobile phone, which was taken away by police for tests.
FedEx and UPS suspended all their shipments out of Yemen, saying they would fully cooperate with investigators.
“The package which originated in Yemen was removed for forensic examination by UK experts. That examination continues,” said May.
“At this stage I can say that the device did contain explosive material. But it is not yet clear that it was a viable explosive device. The forensic work continues.”
She added: “We are reviewing the security measures for air freight from Yemen and are in discussion with industry contacts.”
The cordon at East Midlands was finally lifted at 5.35pm on Friday. Other UK airports were not affected by the find. A spokeswoman for Heathrow said the airport was running as normal yesterday. “There has been no effect on our operation at all. We take our lead from the government and we have not been asked to increase security at this time,” she said.
Speaking at the White House, Obama said: “Although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen.
“We also know that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies.”
Concerns about other devices prompted major security alerts across US cities. UPS jets in Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey, were moved away from terminal buildings and two fighter jets escorted an airliner travelling into New York from Dubai.
The terror alert followed calls last week from airline bosses for existing security procedures such as shoe and laptop checks to be scrapped. Earlier this year, the US and Britain tempor-arily closed embassies in the Yemeni capital over fears of a terrorist attack.
Former UK home secretary John Reid told BBC News yesterday: “The important thing is to remember that even when there are no incidents like this, there is still a huge and continuing threat from terrorism, not just al-Qaeda, but its affiliates and in some cases from brand new groupings.
“We’ve got to get away from this idea that if we go a period of time without an incident like this that somehow we can reduce vigilance and reduce security at airports.”
Jane Harman, a California Democrat who serves on the Homeland Security Committee and was briefed by John Pistole, the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, told The New York Times yesterday that both the Dubai package and that found at East Midlands airport contained explosive-filled printer cartridges. One, she said, had a timer and the other was rigged to use a cell phone as a detonator.
No explosives were found on an Emirates Airlines passenger jet that was escorted down the coast to New York by American fighter jets.
"The forensic analysis is under way," Obama's counterterror chief John Brennan said. "Clearly from the initial observation, the initial analysis that was done, the materials that were found in the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."
While Obama didn't specifically accuse Yemen's al-Qaeda branch, Brennan called it the most active al-Qaeda franchise and said anyone associated with the group was a subject of concern.
That would include the radical US-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who now is in hiding in Yemen. He has been linked in the Christmas attack and has inspired other terrorists with his violent message. Also hiding in Yemen is Samir Khan, an American who declared himself a traitor and helps produce al-Qaeda propaganda.
The terrorist efforts "underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism," the president said.
The Homeland Security Department said it was stepping up airline security, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Americans did not need to change their travel plans.
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