A package containing explosives hidden in a printer cartridge arrived at the Qatar Airways' hub in Doha on one of the carrier's flights from the Yemeni capital Sana'a.
One of two powerful bombs mailed from Yemen to Chicago-area synagogues travelled on two passenger planes within West Asia, a spokesperson for Qatar Airways said today.
The US said the plot bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen.
The airline spokesperson said a package containing explosives hidden in a printer cartridge arrived at the Qatar Airways hub in Doha on one of the carrier's flights from the Yemeni capital Sana'a.
It was then shipped on a separate Qatar Airways plane to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where it was discovered by authorities late on Thursday or early on Friday.
A second, similar package turned up in England on Friday.
The airline spokesperson disclosed the information on condition of anonymity in line with the company's standing policies on conversations with the media. The spokesperson did not give any time frame for the two flights in question.
In Washington, President Barack Obama's counter-terrorism adviser said authorities "have to presume" there might be more potential mail bombs like the ones pulled from planes in England and the UAE.
Al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen is suspected of mailing the bombs. The group was behind a failed bombing on a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas that bore some of the hallmarks of this plot.
In Yemen on Sunday, police were searching for additional suspects after arresting a female computer engineering student suspected of mailing the packages. They also arrested her mother. Both were detained on Saturday.
US officials said suspects in the plot include the bombmaker suspected of designing the explosive used in the failed Christmas airliner bombing. The bombmaker is a key operative in al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Authorities were also looking at two language institutions in Yemen the plotters may have been associated with.
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