Bomb could have exploded in flight: Dubai police

Dubai Police have said that the bomb found aboard a FedEx plane on Friday contained the highly explosive PETN -- the same substance used by the would-be 2009 Christmas Day "underpants" bomber Farouk Abdulmutallab and 2001 attempted shoe-bomber Richard Reid.

Dubai police chief General Dahi Khalfan said: "This was a parcel bomb and a terrorist act could have occurred," adding that the device could have "exploded" on board the airplane had it not been intercepted in time.

The device consisted of a computer printer whose ink contained explosive material, connected to a mobile phone SIM card and a circuit board, a police statement said.

The statement said it "bears the hallmarks of those used by terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda." 

Meanwhile, international parcel delivery companies are responsible for inspection measures on the goods that they carry, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, told Emirates24|7 on Saturday.

His statement came after terrorists tried to mail two bombs from Yemen to Chicago-area synagogues in a brazen plot.

The second device was found and intercepted in the UK.

British PM David Cameron said that after examination of the device found at East Midlands airport in central England, British authorities "believe that the device was designed to go off on the airplane."

"There is no early evidence it was designed to take place over British soil but of course we cannot rule that out," he said from Chequers, his country residence near London, where he met German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

British police said the package intercepted there had been flown in from Yemen via Cologne, Germany.

Khalfan advised courier and cargo companies to be more prudent and cautious when accepting consignments, especially in countries where elements of terrorist organisations are present, and while dealing with suspect entities.

He told how Dubai police seized the parcel bomb that was being sent from Yemen to the US via FedEx.

He said it was a computer printer that contained the explosive material. Vigilance by Dubai police prevented the parcel bomb from being forwarded otherwise it could have had deadly consequences, he added.

Khalfan said that the device was neutralised by Dubai police.

He said that Dubai was just a transit point for the package. He refused to divulge the name of the country from which the explosive parcel was forwarded, saying only that it was a “GCC country”.

However, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the UAE announced on Saturday that the package that was discovered at Dubai International Airport was shipped from Sanaa on board a Qatar Airways plane heading to Doha and then forwarded from that flight to Dubai, according to WAM.

The package was seized in Dubai International Airport after the authorities grew suspicious. Laboratory tests confirmed the package contained explosive substances, the GCAA said in a statement.

A GCAA source told Wam the UAE is coordinating with competent authorities in other countries about the package and circumstances surrounding it.

PETN, or Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, is the same substance used by two would-be bombers of US airliners.

PETN is a colourless explosive that is difficult to detect and a small amount can cause great damage.

Police said the bomb had been disarmed.

"Thanks to rapid intervention, the police in Dubai foiled a terrorist operation in the country where the package was destined," the statement said.

Earlier, 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 on Friday night.

According to news agencies 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.

The GCAA confirmed to Wam on Friday night that the Emirates Airline flight from Dubai to the US did not carry any shipment from Yemen.

Earlier, the GCAA had announced that a suspicious shipment originating from Yemen and heading for the US was discovered in a FedEx cargo aircraft.

The GCAA said in a statement that the concerned authorities moved the suspicious shipment to the laboratory to establish its type. It added that an extensive cooperation about the discovery is underway with civil aviation authorities in Yemen, the US and the United Kingdom.

"The UAE is keen on maintaining highest security standards in its airports to ensure safety and security of the passengers and cargo," the statement said. "The airports are equipped with the latest devices for inspection of passengers and luggage before boarding the planes."

US President Barack Obama said on Friday that two packages from Yemen addressed to Jewish synagogues in Chicago contained explosive material and were a "credible terrorist threat."

The White House said it was tipped off by Saudi Arabia to the threat and said  Washington was "grateful... for their assistance in developing information that helped underscore the imminence of the threat emanating from Yemen."

Informed late Thursday, Obama immediately ordered cargo planes at Philadelphia and Newark international airports to be towed to isolation and checked because they were thought to contain further packages from Yemen.

"We will continue to pursue additional protective measures as long as it takes to ensure the safety and security of our citizens," Obama told a special press conference at the White House.

Top officials reassured the public that the threat level to the United States was unchanged, though the Department of Homeland Security announced it had boosted security measures.

The president made it clear he suspected Al Qaeda's Yemeni-based affiliate of being behind the plot, which could have severe ramifications for the global cargo industry.

"Although we are still pursuing all of the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen," Obama said.

"We know that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies."

Yemeni officials said their government had launched a full investigation and was working closely on the incident with international partners, including the US.

"It does appear there were explosive materials in both of the packages," Obama's top counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan told reporters.

"They were in a form that was designed to try to carry out some type of an attack. The initial analysis (is) that the materials that were found and the device that was uncovered was intended to do harm."

British authorities were probing whether the package contained a "viable" bomb, Home Secretary Theresa May said on Saturday.

"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," May said.

Brennan said all packages originating from Yemen would now be "carefully screened".

In the hours following the discovery of the packages, the US authorities gave advance warning to Jewish leaders in Chicago of a threat against synagogues in the city.

The cargo scare offered a new twist as Western authorities have usually focused on dangers posed to passenger airliners following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when Al Qaeda hijacked planes and struck targets in New York and Washington.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, faces a growing threat from the local branch of his global jihadist network. 

Over the past decade, it has become a haven for violent extremists, becoming the headquarters of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the hiding place for US-born radical cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, who was linked to high-profile terror plots in the US.

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