The woman taken into custody by Yemeni authorities, because her phone number was left at the shipping center where packages containing explosives were shipped to Chicago (they were intercepted in the U.K and Dubai), was released. A lawyer for the 22-year-old student at Sana University said his client was set-up because her identity was stolen. In the meantime, officials have identified Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri as the expert behind the bombs—he's "so ruthless that he once slipped explosives inside his own brother's body to kill a Saudi prince."
According to the Daily News, "His brother managed to get face to face with the prince before a text message triggered the device, but he killed only himself. The August 2009 plot was the latest failed attempt by a Saudi bombmaker so skilled, daring and prolific that success is probably just a matter of time." Asiri gave his younger brother, Abdullah, 3 ounces of PETN explosives "to conceal inside his rear":
Abdullah posed as a penitent militant seeking to surrender in person to Prince Muhammed Bin Naif, the Saudi security minister who tries to reform terrorists.
Abdullah was flown on the prince's private jet to his palace. Bin Naif reportedly ordered guards not to hand-search the visitor in a show of trust.
The bomb went off inside Abdullah, triggered by a text message to his cell phone, CBS reported.
U.S. and British officials believe the bombs were made to detonate in mid-flight, which is now putting focus on the security measures for air cargo. Germany is reportedly stopping passenger flights from Yemen and has already stopped cargo flights; the country had tried to stop the shipment of the mail bombs last week, but found out they were already in progress so Germany's intelligence agency contacted their British counterpart.
The two packages were addressed to Chicago synagogues. Some NYC buildings are so worried about mail bombs, building managers have stopped accepting package deliveries.
