CIA derails new al-Qaida underwear bomb plot

The unexploded bomb represents an intelligence prize, the result of a covert CIA operation in Yemen.
US officials said the device was a redesigned model of the bomb used by the so-called "underwear bomber", who failed to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. That plot also originated in Yemen.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said: "The US engages in a number of operations to go after al-Qaeda and their militant allies or their terrorist allies who would try to attack the US.
"What this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. We will do everything necessary to keep America safe."
One official said the latest underwear bomb to be discovered appeared to be similar to the work of fugitive Saudi militant Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, who US sources believe is a bomb-maker working with the Yemen-based group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).