By DPA,
Washington: President Barack Obama said he was taking seriously a “credible threat” earlier Friday from two packages containing explosive materials that were found on cargo flights destined for the US.
The packages were intercepted on flights that originated from Yemen. One was halted during a stopover in Britain and the other in Dubai.
Obama called it a “credible threat” to the US. He said the packages “do apparently contain explosive materials”.
Obama’s top national security advisor John Brennan said preliminary investigations suggested the devices were “in a form that was designed to carry out some kind of attack”.
Other packages or planes coming from Yemen were also being inspected, Brennan said, though so far only the two flights contained packages with dangerous materials.
Obama said the US would “spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages”.
Obama said Brennan had spoken by telephone with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who pledged his full cooperation.
Yemen has been a hub for terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Obama said the group “continues to plan attacks” and that the US was working with Yemeni authorities to “destroy this Al Qaeda affiliate”.