New underwear bomb plot meant for US-bound plane stopped: feds

Federal agents stopped a new underwear bomb plot intended to blow up a U.S.-bound plane around the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death last week, officials confirmed Monday.

The plot was an improved version of a previous plan by a Yemen-based al-Qaida affiliate to have an airline passenger detonate a bomb planted in his underwear, officials said, adding that no specific flight was targeted before counterterrorism agents intervened. A similar plan by would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was foiled as he tried to set off a bomb over Detroit on Christmas in 2009.

"An improvised explosive device designed to carry out a terrorist attack has been seized abroad," the FBI confirmed in a statement. "The FBI currently has possession of the IED and is conducting technical and forensics analysis on it."

Details of the thwarted plot were first reported by The Associated Press, which said it had learned about it last week.

In an email, Deputy National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said President Barack Obama was first notified about the plan in April.

"While the president was assured that the device did not pose a threat to the public, he directed the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take whatever steps necessary to guard against this type of attack," Hayden said. "The disruption of this IED plot underscores the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism here and abroad."

The AP said FBI investigators were trying to see if the improved underwear bomb would have passed through airport security checkpoints, since it was made without metal.