MI6 Recruited Underpants Bomber

A double agent allegedly recruited by MI5 and MI6 was a British passport holder, according to American media reports. The man is said to be from the Middle East, but to have grown up in Europe and become a British citizen.

UK and Saudi agents were involved in penetrating a plot by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to detonate a sophisticated underwear bomb aboard an American jetliner, NBC said, citing unnamed security sources. The alleged bomber has not been identified publicly. Officials said the bomb - a refined version of an "underwear bomb" used in two previous failed plots - was driven from Yemen to Saudi Arabia and was being examined by US experts at FBI labs in Virginia.

British officials were reportedly left "slack-jawed" by the leaks and detailed reported in the US media, the Times reported, quoting Whitehall officials. MI5 recruited the agent and MI6 coordinated with Saudi intelligence, who had already infiltrated the Yemen-based group, the Daily Telegraph said. More...