Yemeni officials reveal details of terror alert

Yemeni government officials in Washington revealed more details about last week's terror alert over the weekend, indicating close contact with American officials as the package bomb plot came into clearer focus.

In a statement released late Saturday through Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the embassy of Yemen, the country's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, frankly acknowledged the country's substantial problem with al-Qaida, noting that the terrorist organization has taken the lives of more than 70 Yemeni security and military personnel in recent months.

"We have incurred tremendous losses in the investment and tourism sectors, as well as other sectors," Saleh said.

Saleh said that after foreign intelligence sources learned of the plot, the information was passed on by the U.S. Embassy to his security forces, which searched local shipping agencies. The suspicious packages left Sana'a on Qatar Airways, headed for Doha in Qatar, and then were supposed to be transferred in Dubai for further travel to the United Kingdom, said Saleh.

One of the packages was intercepted in Dubai on a FedEx flight while the second was found by British officials on a UPS flight at an airport north of London. Both packages contained the explosive PETN and other bomb components hidden in printer cartridges. The packages were addressed to Jewish organizations in Chicago, although American officials said it is unclear if the plotters expected the devices to detonate aboard the aircrafts or on land.

Saleh said a young university student was arrested Saturday in Yemen, and her mother was detained as well. The Associated Press reported Sunday that a computer engineering student arrested in Yemen had been released when it was discovered someone else had posed as her in signing shipping documents. Names of the suspects have not been disclosed. Saleh did say that he spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron as the plot unfolded.

The latest plot has American and foreign officials discussing how to increase air cargo security. Sunday, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) told Newsday that the cargo security was going to be a major issue for the House Homeland Security Committee after tomorrow's elections.

Security experts have long held that air cargo is a relatively weak link in counterterrorism programs and they expect the issue will be getting more attention following the latest incident.

Robert Tucker, chief executive at T & M Protective Resources in New York, said over the weekend that his company is beginning to use dogs trained as "vapor wake" detectors. The canines are constantly sniffing for explosive vapors. They are unlike other dogs, which have to be told to search a specific person or piece of cargo, said Tucker.

While Tucker thinks the specially trained dogs are very useful for cargo searches, he still believes law enforcement has to have in place a number of methods to detect bombs.

"There is no silver bullet," said Tucker.