WASHINGTON — The double agent who foiled an al Qaeda plot to bring down a US-bound jetliner was a British national of Middle Eastern origin, NBC News reported, citing sources.
British intelligence also played “crucial” role in recruiting the spy, whose identity remains unknown, according to the network.
The agent infiltrated al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a terrorist cell in Yemen, and volunteered for a suicide mission to take down a jet with a more advanced version of the underwear bomb used in a failed 2009 Christmas Day attempt.
He successfully delivered the bomb and information on the group’s leaders to the CIA, Saudi and other foreign intelligence agencies last month.