New links to Saudi AQAP plot?

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 15 (UPI) -- Explosives used in an August assassination attempt of a Saudi prince were made of the same material used in a U.S. Christmas Day plot, officials said.

Numaan Dowaid, the governor of Yemen's Sanaa province, said explosives used in the August assassination attempt of Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Naif were prepared by al-Qaida operatives trained in explosives in Afghanistan.

He stressed that the technology needed to make the explosives isn't available in Yemen, the Saudi Gazette reported Monday.

"The techniques used are advanced," he added.

The same materials used in the August plot were used in the Christmas Day attempt to down a U.S. passenger plane headed for Detroit, the Gazette said. Nigerian national Umaru Farouk Abdulmutallab has been charged with trying to bomb the plane.

Authorities allege Abdulmutallab had more than 80 grams of the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate sewn into his undergarments. The so-called shoe bomber Richard Reid smuggled 50 grams of PETN on a jet during an attempt to down a U.S.-bound jet in 2001. The explosives in both attempted airliner bombings failed to detonate.

The would-be assassin in the August plot died in the attack. The prince suffered minor injuries.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen's al-Qaida branch, claimed responsibility for the Saudi and Christmas Day plots.