Double-Agent Infiltrated al-Qaeda to Foil Bomb Plot

Looks like a nice coup for the CIA: The agency and its counterpart in Saudi Arabia teamed up to fool the Yemen branch of al-Qaeda with a double-agent, reports the Los Angeles Times. The infiltrator convinced the group to give him a newly designed non-metallic bomb so he could attempt a terror attack aboard a US-bound plane. But as soon as the would-be "underwear bomber" got the device, he left Yemen and turned it over to intelligence officials from the US and other nations.

The informant also provided information that led to this weekend's successful CIA drone strike against one of the planners of the USS Cole attack in 2000, reports the New York Times. The double-agent is reportedly a Saudi citizen who works for that nation's intelligence agency. (More al-Qaeda stories.)