Explosives discovered in foiled terror plot on U.S.

A terror plot against at least two U.S. targets was foiled after airport authorities in England and Dubai discovered explosive packages, sparking concerns of a large-scale al Qaeda terror campaign.

U.S. authorities said they learned overnight Thursday that the packages had been located. The discoveries came after a tip from security forces in Saudi Arabia.

Preliminary tests indicate that the explosive is PETN, which was also used in last year's failed Christmas attack on a Detroit-bound flight. The explosives had been hidden in computer printer toner cartridges.

The packages were addressed to Chicago synagogues from an address in Yemen, said Chicago FBI spokesperson Ross Rice.

A third plane from the United Arab Emirates was intercepted by Canadian CF-18 fighter jets on Friday afternoon after authorities discovered a suspicious package.

The Canadian fighter jets were diverted from a training exercise to trail the commercial flight through Canadian airspace, a military official said.

Once the jet flew into U.S. airspace, a pair of U.S. F-15s took over as escorts. The NORAD official added that the Canadian military made the initial, precautionary decision to trail the passenger flight, with U.S. officials following suit.

The flight later landed safely at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. No explosives were found.

Officials also warned that other tentacles in the global plot may be discovered in days to come.

One of the devices was designed to use a cellphone as a detonator while the other was equipped with a timer, the New York Times reported.

Yemen is home to an al Qaeda affiliate that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of an airliner bound for the U.S. last Christmas, and is believed to have been recently strengthening its ranks. The group formed in the wake of a successful crackdown on militants by neighbouring Saudi Arabia several years ago.

U.S. President Barack Obama held a press conference about the incidents on Friday afternoon, saying that a preliminary examination of the packages in Dubai and England "has determined that they do in fact contain explosive material."

Obama said he has directed U.S. authorities to "spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages and their connection to any additional terrorist plot."

He also said that Yemen's President Ali Abudlah Saleh has "pledged the full co-operation of the Yemeni government" in the terror investigation. Obama also said the U.S. is committed to helping stabilize Yemen in the hopes of making it a more difficult place for terrorists to operate.

American officials had speculated that the suspicious packages could represent a trial run in a Yemen-based al Qaeda plot to deliver bombs via air mail.

But White House Homeland Security Adviser John Brennan said the two explosive packages travelling to the U.S. were designed to carry out an attack and were capable of doing harm.

A UPS distribution centre at an airport north of London was cordoned off and a search was conducted there early Friday, CTV's London Bureau Chief Tom Kennedy reported.

"There is a tremendous amount of anxiety any time the idea of potential explosive and aircraft are put together," Kennedy said. "The security services in this country are moving very quickly now to try to get to the bottom of this."

The discovery prompted concerns that potentially dangerous devices could have been shipped amongst cargo bound for U.S. cities. Two planes in Philadelphia and Newark were later moved away from the airport so that they could be investigated, said Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Kristin Lee.

Both investigations reportedly revolved around planes or packages from UPS, an Atlanta-based courier company that said it was working closely with authorities.

Memphis-based FedEx said it had located a suspicious package in Dubai that had been shipped from Yemen. The company announced it has indefinitely embargoed all shipments from Dubai, and said it is co-operating with FBI investigators.

Meanwhile police in New York City were summoned to probe reports of a possible explosive device in a UPS truck at the Queensboro Bridge. Police located a package and examined it in Brooklyn, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed that "at least one package" was identified "as being possibly involved with this threat," he said.

"That package has been scanned by our bomb squad and cleared of the threat."

Canadian Response

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he has been keeping in touch with U.S. Homeland Security as the plot develops.

"As the prime minister has consistently stated, security threats to the United States are security threats to Canada. The Canadian government remains fully engaged with the Obama Administration on efforts to combat terrorist threats," Toews said in a statement Friday.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Jewish Congress issued a warning to its affiliates in Canada on Friday in response to the scare.

The CJC's Bernie Faber said that the warning, which also went out to synagogues, is simply a precaution.

He added that no suspicious packages have arrived in Canada.

With files from The Associated Press