France: Bomb disarmed 17 minutes before it was to go off

One of two mail bombs sent from Yemen last week was disarmed just 17 minutes before it was set to go off, the French interior minister said Thursday, but American and British officials said they had no information that would confirm that.

The issue of timing is central to the investigation because it could indicate whether terrorists hoped to blow up the planes over U.S. airspace or whether they simply wanted to take down the planes regardless of their location.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the question of when the bombs found in Britain and the United Arab Emirates were to go off was still under investigation and there was no information confirming such a close call. U.S. investigators also said they were unable to confirm the French report.

A government official in Britain said the device found there was still undergoing forensic tests and it had not been determined how close it was to being detonated. A security source in the United Arab Emirates said French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux's remark was not a description of the bomb found in that country.

"One of the packages was defused only 17 minutes before the moment that it was set to explode," Hortefeux said. He made no other statement about the Yemen bomb plot during an interview on state-run France-2 television that focused on other security-related matters.

"If this was a reference to the device found in the Federal Express (FedEx) site in Dubai, then it is not correct," a source in the United Arab Emirates who is familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. The security source was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and could not be named.

The British government official also was not authorized to speak publicly of the case.

In related news, the U.S. military wants to significantly increase its equipment and training aid to Yemen in 2011, proposing as much as $250 million to help the struggling country battle al-Qaida-linked extremists within its borders, according to U.S. officials.

The increase in funding was recommended well before the failed mail bombings, which U.S. officials believe were linked to the terror group's branch in Yemen, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Military aid to Yemen in 2010 was $155 million, and the 2011 recommendation is expected to be well in excess of $200 million, depending on final negotiations between top administration officials. - AP