Airline Bomb Plot Traced to Al-Qa’ida in Yemen

Federal authorities have revealed that would-be airline bomber Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab received his training and marching orders from Al-Qa’ida in Yemen. According to an ABC News report, Abdulmutallab’s Al-Qa’ida mentors sewed the 80 grams of PETN, a highly-explosive material, into his underwear before dispatching him on his mission. Officials speculate the chemical failed to perform as expected because the detonator was insufficient or failed to make proper contact with the explosive material. Contact between the failed bomber and his handlers was initially made on the Internet. He later lived with his Al-Qa’ida trainers in Yemen while preparing for his mission.