Israel Matzav: A previous use of the underwear bomb

A previous use of the underwear bomb

ABC reports that the terrorist who attempted to murder Saudi Prince Mohamed bin Nayef, chief of Saudi counterintelligence, in August 2009, used an underwear bomb similar to the one used by Umar Faruq Abudulmuttalab to try to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

National security sources tell ABC News that the al Qaeda terrorist who tried to kill Saudi prince and counterintelligence chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in August used the same technique -- an underwear bomb -- and the same PETN explosive that Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab tried to use in his attempted Christmas Day attack.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for that August attack as well as the Christmas Day attempt.

Within a week of that failed August attack on Prince Mohammed, President Obama dispatched his top counterterrorism and homeland security adviser John Brennan to Saudi Arabia to meet with Prince Mohammed to discuss the attempt, a senior administration official told ABC News.

That September visit "started the process by which we worked with Saudis on the forensics of the attack and the technique, which we did over the next several weeks," the official said. "That information was shared widely within the government."

Hmmm.

Israel Matzav: A previous use of the underwear bomb