WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida designed a bomb to slip inside form-fitting, brief-style underwear in hopes it would go undetected even if the bomber received an airport pat-down, officials said Wednesday, describing a plot they said was directly overseen by a high-level al-Qaida leader in Yemen.The scheme never had a chance, though, because the would-be bomber was actually a double-agent working for Saudi Arabia's security services. Saudi officials worked with the CIA to deliver the sophisticated new bomb directly to the U.S. government, according to current and former U.S. officials briefed on the situation.The operation was a victory on multiple fronts. Not only did it prevent an attack and give the U.S. a look at al-Qaida's latest deadly invention, but the double agent also provided some of ... Continue reading →

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WASHINGTON - Despite the discovery of a sophisticated new al-Qaida airline bomb plot, congressional and security officials suggested no immediate need Tuesday to change airport security procedures, which already subject shoeless passengers to intrusive pat-downs and body scans. The CIA, with help from a well-placed informant and foreign intelligence services, conducted a covert operation in Yemen in recent weeks that disrupted a nascent suicide plot and recovered a new bomb, U.S. officials said. Officials said the bomb represents an upgrade over the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system. FBI experts are picking apart that ... Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — In letters from his last hideout, Osama bin Laden fretted about dysfunction in his terrorist network and the loss of trust from Muslims he wished to incite against their government and the West.A selection of documents seized in last year's raid on bin Laden's Pakistan house was posted online Thursday by the U.S. Army's Combating Terrorism Center.While bin Laden saw al-Qaida's standing with Muslim populations at risk of crumbling, the documents show he remained focused on attacking Americans and coming up with plots, however improbable, to kill U.S. leaders.He wished especially to target airplanes carrying Gen. David Petraeus and even President Barack Obama, reasoning that an assassination would elevate an "utterly unprepared" Vice President Joe Biden into the presidency and plunge the ... Continue reading →

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials say the public will soon be able to read some of Osama bin Laden's last written or typed words - made available by the U.S. Army's Combating Terrorism Center at West Point military academy this week.Navy SEALs gathered the documents when they raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2 last year.The trove included correspondence between the terror leader and his far flung affiliates, and a diary written in bin Laden's own hand. Intelligence officials say the trove shows how the terror group works and evidence that bin Laden was helping plot attacks on American targets.The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly. It was unclear Monday whether the documents would be available online or ... Continue reading →

A year after the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida is hobbled and hunted, too busy surviving for the moment to carry out another Sept. 11-style attack on U.S. soil. But the terrorist network dreams still of payback, and U.S. counterterrorist officials warn that, in time, its offshoots may deliver. A decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that has cost the U.S. about $1.28 trillion and 6,300 U.S. troops lives has forced al-Qaida's affiliates to regroup, from Yemen to Iraq. Bin Laden's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, is thought to be hiding, out of U.S. reach, in Pakistan's mountains, just as bin Laden was for so many years. "It's wishful thinking to say al-Qaida is on the brink of defeat," says Seth Jones, ... Continue reading →

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Officials say the U.S. will now be allowed to target individuals found to be plotting to attack the U.S. homeland or American territory overseas, even if U.S. intelligence cannot identify the people by name.Prior practice required that militants be identified by name before strikes.Officials said the White House did not approve wider targeting of groups of al-Qaida foot soldiers, a practice sometimes employed by the CIA in Pakistan, and strikes will only be carried out with Yemeni government approval.The new policy is intended to protect Americans from a growing al-Qaida threat in Yemen.All officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic matters.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.Yemeni officials want more U.S. counterterrorism ... Continue reading →

By KIMBERLY DOZIERAP Intelligence Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is rebranding and reorganizing its clandestine spy shop, sending more of its case officers to work alongside CIA officers to gather intelligence in places like China, after a decade of focusing intensely on war zones. Several hundred case officers will make up the new Defense Clandestine Service. Drawn from the Defense Intelligence Agency, the officers will be sent to beef up U.S. intelligence teams in areas that are now receiving more attention. Those include Africa, where al-Qaida is increasingly active, to parts of Asia where the North Korean missile threat and Chinese military expansion are causing increasing U.S. concern. The new effort was described by a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity ... Continue reading →

WASHINGTON—The White House has no intentions to end CIA drone strikes against militant targets on Pakistani soil, U.S. officials say, possibly setting the two countries up for diplomatic tensions after Pakistan's parliament unanimously approved new guidelines for the country's troubled relationship with the United States. U.S. officials say they will work in coming weeks and months to find common ground with Pakistan, but if a suspected terrorist target comes into the laser sights of a CIA drone's hellfire missiles, they will take the shot. It's not the first time the U.S. has ignored Pakistan's parliament, which demanded an end to drone strikes in 2008. What's different now is that the Pakistani government is in a more fragile political state, and can no longer continue its ... Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adm. Bill McRaven, the head of U.S. special operations, is mapping out a potential Afghanistan war plan that would replace thousands of U.S. troops with small special operations teams paired with Afghans to help an inexperienced Afghan force withstand a Taliban onslaught as U.S. troops withdraw.While the overall campaign would still be led by conventional military, the handfuls of special operators would become the leading force to help Afghans secure the large tracts of territory won in more than a decade of U.S. combat. They would give the Afghans practical advice on how to repel attacks, intelligence to help spot the enemy and communications to help call for U.S. air support if overwhelmed by a superior force.If approved by the administration, the ... Continue reading →