al-Asiri is suspected of being the main explosives expert for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( AQAP ) and the bomb-maker responsible for building the bombs in the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot . He is a likely suspect due to his history of creating explosive devices using PETN , including his involvement in the failed Christmas Day bomb plot . Evidence suggested the same person constructed both the Yemen parcel bombs and the device worn by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , the Nigerian who attempted to ignite the Christmas Day bomb on a plane in 2009 . One of the detonators was nearly identical to the one used in the Christmas Day attack
Christmas Day bomb plot
Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Ibrahim al-Asiri