Al-Qaida insider gave tip on mail-bomb plot

YEMEN | Saudi Arabia has worked to infiltrate terror group

by Ahmed al-Haj and Hamza Hendawi

Chicago Sun Times

November 2, 2010

SAN'A, Yemen -- Information that helped thwart the plot of U.S.-bound mail bombs wired to explode on cargo planes came from an al-Qaida insider who was secreted out of Yemen after surrendering to Saudi authorities, Yemeni security officials said Monday.

The tip reflects how Saudi Arabia has worked aggressively for years to infiltrate al-Qaida in Yemen, the unruly, impoverished nation on its southern doorstep in the Arabian Peninsula.

The tip came from Jabir al-Fayfi, a Saudi who was held for years at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007.

Soon after, he fled Saudi Arabia and joined the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen until he turned himself in to Saudi authorities in late September.

Yemeni security officials said they believe al-Fayfi may have been a double agent, planted by Saudi Arabia in Yemen among al-Qaida militants in the Arabian Peninsula to uncover their plots. The officials said that after his return to the kingdom, he told authorities al-Qaida was planning to send bomb-laden packages.

Saudi Arabia has been recruiting informants in the terrorist network and also has been paying Yemeni tribal chiefs -- and even gives cash to figures in the Yemeni military -- to gain their loyalty.

President Obama thanked Saudi King Abdullah, a top U.S. ally, in a Saturday telephone call for the ''critical role'' by Saudi counterterrorism authorities in uncovering the plot. After the Saudi alert, two bombs hidden in packages mailed from Yemen and addressed to synagogues in Chicago were discovered Friday on planes transiting through Dubai and Britain.

Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, considered a key figure in al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, is the chief suspect behind assembling the sophisticated mail bombs, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

German officials said Monday that the mail bombs contained 10.58 ounces and 15.11 ounces of the explosive PETN -- enough to cause ''significant'' damage to the planes.