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Al Qaeda bomb maker is top threat, must be killed: U.S. senator By Todd Eastham Posted 2012/05/13 at 1:09 pm EDT WASHINGTON, May 13, 2012 (Reuters) — Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is the top security threat tothe United States and the bomb maker thought to have created atleast two non-metallic explosive devices must be killed tosafeguard U.S. national security, a top senator said on Sunday. "I am hopeful that we will be able to, candidly, kill this bombmaker and kill some of these other associates, because there is adangerous process in play at the present time," Senator DianneFeinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee onIntelligence, told "Fox News Sunday." The bombs, intended to be smuggled aboard an aircraft undetectedand then detonated, bear the forensic signature of suspected alQaeda bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who is believed to behiding in Yemen, officials have said. They said a bomb obtained in a recent intelligence operationappeared to be an upgraded version of the so-called "underwearbomb" that failed to bring down a passenger jet over Detroit onChristmas Day 2009. A bomber from the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen sent to blow up aU.S.-bound airliner last month was actually a double agent whoinfiltrated the group and volunteered for the suicide mission,intelligence agency officials have confirmed. Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, working with Britishintelligence and the CIA, placed the operative inside al Qaeda inthe Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, with the goal of convincing hishandlers to give him a new type of non-metallic bomb for themission, officials said. Western intelligence agencies have identified AQAP as among themost dangerous and determined al Qaeda affiliates in the world,dedicated in part to attacks on the West. The double agent arranged instead to deliver the device to U.S. andother intelligence authorities waiting outside Yemen, the officialssaid. The main charge was a high-grade military explosive that"undoubtedly would have brought down an aircraft," the New YorkTimes reported, citing a senior U.S. official. Feinstein said a leak early last week on the operation to theAssociated Press "is very serious." "The leak did endanger sources and methods, and the leak I thinkhas to be prosecuted." " ... It gives a tip off to AQAP to be more careful about who theyuse as their couriers, as their bombers. ... Criminal charges willgo to the Department of Justice." CRIMINAL, DAMAGING LEAK Representative Peter King, chairman of the House of RepresentativesHomeland Security Committee, told CNN's "State of the Union" thepremature leak of the operation to the AP was criminal anddamaging. "The FBI has to do a full and complete investigation because thisreally is criminal in the literal sense of the word to leak outthis type of sensitive, classified information on really almostunparalleled penetration of the enemy," King said. "This was more secret than any operation I'm familiar with, evenmore secret than (the assassination of Osama) bin Laden." Yet "theAssociated Press apparently had the entire story." The leak put lives at risk and the operation had to be cut short,King said. "It sends a signal to countries willing to work with usthat we can't be trusted to keep a secret if in fact we are theones who leaked it out." "I think there was a bit of premature chest-thumping in this wholething," Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the HouseIntelligence Committee, told CBS's "Face the Nation." "No national security operation ever should be used for a headlineunder any circumstances," suggesting someone with ties to theintelligence community had sought political gain from theoperation. Feinstein was asked if current screening technology wouldnecessarily identify this kind of bomb on an airline passenger."For this particular material," she said, "candidly, no." "I think Americans have to understand that this particular kind ofexplosive, non-metallic, is not easily detectable." Consequently the flying public is going to have to tolerate moreinvasive searches, she said. "The American public has not beenterribly sympathetic" to this, she said, but "it's very importantthat TSA (the Transportation Security Administration) keeps up itsefforts." (Reporting By Todd Eastham; additional reporting by PatrickTemple-West; editing by Eric Beech). I am an expert from precisioninjectionmould.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Die-casting Parts Manufacturer , Zinc Alloy Die Casting Mould, Plastic Injection Moulds,and more.
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