World Gossip News

The United States believes the Saudi man suspected of designing underwear bombs for al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate has trained a small number of people on his advanced bomb-making techniques. Believed to be in his early 30s, Asiri, who survived a U.S. drone missile attack in 2011, has drawn scrutiny for his skill at fashioning hard-to-detect bombs and hiding them in clothing or equipment. He became an urgent priority for Western counterterrorism officials after his suspected role in planning strikes on the United States in 2009 and 2010, plots that included the failed bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day in 2009.

A Riyadh-born former chemistry student who once plotted to bomb oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Asiri served nine months in jail in Saudi Arabia for attempting to join a militant group in Iraq to fight U.S. troops there. He later moved to Yemen and joined AQAP, and is suspected of providing the bomb that killed his younger brother in a failed bid to assassinate Saudi counterterrorism chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in 2009.