Bin Laden believed linked to Yemen terror plots

U.S. officials suspect al Qaeda’s central leadership in Pakistan is assisting the group that mailed cargo bombs to American targets last week.

Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is emerging as a serious threat to Western targets. The group was behind the failed ‘underwear bomber’ plot last Christmas as well as the thwarted cargo bomb plot last week. U.S. officials say they believe the group is receiving guidance from Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda faction in Pakistan, which is hemmed in in a remote region of the country and is increasingly relying on other groups to carry out attacks. There is speculation that an audiotape bin Laden released last week was a signal to AQAP to go ahead with attempts to detonate bombs on cargo planes. Two explosive packages were intercepted in the U.K. and UAE last Friday.