Al-Qaeda underwear bomber 'was undercover agent'

A would-be suicide attacker in a foiled “underwear bomb” plot was an undercover agent, reports from the US say.

US officials are quoted as saying that the person dispatched by Yemen-based al-Qaeda to attack a US-bound plane had infiltrated the group. In an apparent intelligence coup, the agent left Yemen with the device and delivered it to the CIA.Meanwhile, the Pentagon says it is sending military trainers back to Yemen to help counter al-Qaeda militants.

US intelligence learned last month that militants with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen planned to attack a plane with a more sophisticated version of a bomb hidden in a passenger’s underwear, similar to one used in a failed 2009 attempt, the Associated Press news agency reported. Officials told US media that the would-be bomber had been recruited by Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency and sent to Yemen where he infiltrated the militants’ cell.