al Qaeda Studied Airline Security Prior To Bomb Design

Leaders of al Qaeda in Yemen claim that they studied airline security in the U.S. and overseas carefully before designing the bomb that Umar Abdulmutallab carried with him on Christmas Day.

In a new publication, according to a translation prepared by terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann's translators, the group claims it studied x-ray machines, metal detectors, and explosive trace sniffers in considering how to prepare the bomb.

“It becomes clear that every machine has a weakness point that can be undermined,” the article says.

It also says that al Qaeda experts have determined that the detonator in the device did, in fact, go off, consisting of more than four grams of PETN high-explosive material.

“The fuse detonated, and this is what one of the passengers spoke about, that he heard a strong sound onboard the plane,” the article says.

The main charge, it says, was sealed to prevent “hydration,” presumably a reference to the fact that the explosive powder was in a plastic pouch to prevent it from being contaminated by perspiration.

via Al Qaeda studied airline security – First Read – msnbc.com.