Washington, Oct. 30: US law enforcement officials searched for suspicious packages aboard planes on Saturday as the President, Mr Barack Obama, said that two parcels from Yemen apparently contained explosive material and were a “credible terrorist threat.” The discovery of the suspicious packages overnight on cargo planes in transit for the United States one in Dubai and the other in Britain’s East Midlands airport sparked an international security alert.
Both were addressed to synagogues in Chicago.
The White House said it was tipped off by Saudi Arabia to the threat and was “grateful for their assistance in developing information that helped underscore the imminence of the threat emanating from Yemen.” Mr Obama immediately ordered cargo planes at Philadelphia and Newark international airports to be towed to isolated areas and checked because they were thought to contain further packages from Yemen.
US and Canadian fighter jets were scrambled to accompany an Emirates plane into New York but Emirati authorities later said it was not carrying cargo from Yemen.
“We will continue to pursue additional protective measures as long as it takes to ensure the safety of our citizens,” Mr Obama said.
The President made it clear he suspected Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni-based affiliate of being behind the plot, which could have serious ramifications for the global cargo industry.
Top officials reassured the public that the threat level to the United States was unchanged, although the department of homeland security announced it had boosted security measures.
US media reported that the packages, which held a wire-rigged ink toner cartridge and suspicious powder, may have contained the explosive PETN, the same substance used by would-be 2009 Christmas day bomber Farouk Abdulmutallab and 2001 attempted shoe-bomber Richard Reid.
The Dubai police said the parcel intercepted there bore Al-Qaeda hallmarks.