Saudi tip headed off al-Qaeda cargo plot

WESTERN officials are crediting a Saudi intelligence tip in early October with heading off a planned series of catastrophic explosions on jets.

Yemen-based group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility on Friday for sending the two bombs addressed to synagogues in the US and intercepted in Dubai at East Midlands airport in the UK. The group also said it was responsible for the crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai in September and threatened even more attacks on passenger and cargo aircraft.

Investigators say they believe the UPS crash was an accident, not a terror attack, but they're not discounting the al-Qaeda claim.

"A terror act is an unlikely cause. But it doesn't mean we eliminate it," said the head of the United Arab Emirates' civil aviation authority, Saif al-Suwaidi. "The investigation is ongoing. Of course we are investigating all possibilities."

The Saudi tip contained no mention of cargo planes, or any details of the plot carried out last week, a US source said, but the information allowed the US and other Western officials enough of a warning to know what to look for when another Saudi tip arrived last week.

A CIA spokesman cited several allies that have provided key intelligence about terrorist activities.

"Over the past several months, we received intelligence from our foreign partners about threats from AQAP and other terrorist groups," said CIA spokesman George Little. "The US receives this kind of information on a regular basis. Last week, we received specific intelligence that allowed the US and our allies to disrupt the cargo plot."