French claim that Yemen cargo bomb was 'about to explode' dismissed

A claim by the French interior minister that one of the bombs sent as air cargo from Yemen was found 17 minutes before it was due to explode was today dismissed by security officials in several countries. It is believed that the minister, Brice Hortefeux, was referring, during a television interview, to the bomb found disguised in a printer cartridge on a plane that landed in Britain last Friday. The explosive device with the chemical compound PETN was one of two sent as air cargo and addressed to synagogues in Chicago by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Officials in Britain dismissed the French minister's claims. One told the Guardian that the device found at East Midlands airport was still being examined by scientists, and that investigators were not yet sure when and where the terrorists had intended to detonate it. Skepticism about the French claim also came from security officials in Dubai and from the White House in Washington. The question of when the bombs were set to go off is central to the investigation because it could indicate whether the terrorists wanted to blow up the planes in US airspace or take down the aircraft regardless of location.