(CBS News) NEW YORK - It's a stunning revelation in the foiled plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner: The triggerman chosen by al Qaeda was actually a double agent who was working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence services.
He delivered the explosive device to U.S. intelligence officials and provided information on the whereabouts of Fahd al Quso, the senior commander of al Qaeda's wing in Yemen, who was killed in a drone strike last weekend. It is an intelligence victory, but it came with a cost.
U.S. intelligence officials faced a difficult decision. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was looking for a suicide bomber. The target: an American jetliner. The only way for intelligence officials to ensure they controlled the plot was to have their own agent volunteer to be the bomber and then hand the bomb to the CIA. The tradeoff: They would lose a source penetrated deep inside the organization - but they would save lives.
"This is an intelligence coup; the fact that the CIA and partner intelligence agencies got inside the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula networks to not only disrupt this plot, but also get information about the location of senior al Qaeda figures, including Fahd al-Quso, who was killed last week," observes CBS News national security consultant Juan Zarate.
Would-be bomber a double agent
Intelligence agencies and senior officials tell CBS News they're not going anywhere near commenting on the issue for obvious reasons.
The Associated Press has reported that the alleged double agent has been removed from Yemen and apparently is safe.
But how do you penetrate an organization like AQAP with an agent? The key is finding someone who can blend into a very committed group.
Former FBI agent Ali Soufan has questioned many AQAP members.
What drives them? "Most of these individuals are brainwashed into believing their concept of jihad is basically their earthly dimension of believing in God," Soufan says. "There is that ideological drive, religious drive that they have."
The newest bomb is said to be a new design of the underwear bomb that failed to blow up a flight over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
Complete coverage: Christmas Day Bomb Plot"Our team has to get it right every time," points out Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R, Ga.). "The bad guys have to get it right only one time. This time, our guys got it right again."
The latest design is said to have an improved detonation system created by Ibrihim al Asiri, AQAP's explosives expert.
What do his bombs tell another explosives expert?
"It tells you that he has the assets, he has the intent, and he has no conscience," says Kevin Barry, a former New York Police Department bomb technician.
Does he have talent?
"Yes," Barry replied. "He has talent. And he's good at it."
