Obama Press Conference Gives Insight Into Yemeni Package Scare

(Oct. 29) -- President Barack Obama said this afternoon that an investigation is under way for a "credible terrorist threat" that turned up explosives-laden packages in England and Dubai on airplanes bound for the United States.

"The events of the past 24 hours underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism," Obama said. He added that the government will "spare no effort" at finding the people responsible for this latest terror scare.

The explosive packages were addressed to Jewish synagogues in Chicago and were "intended to do harm," according to John Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security. They have since been neutralized.

The identification of the packages last night led to additional security screenings of packages on planes in New Jersey and Philadelphia and in a UPS truck in New York City today. An Emirates Air passenger jet from the United Arab Emirates was escorted by military fighter jets into New York's JFK airport this afternoon out of "an abundance of caution."

The explosive packages, which were found at East Midlands Airport north of London and in Dubai last night, originated in Yemen. President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen spoke with Brennan this morning and pledged his government's full support in the ongoing investigation.

"If anything this just demonstrates to us and I think to the Yemenis that we need to redouble our efforts to destroy al-Qaida, and we will," Brennan said.

An al-Qaida offshoot, called al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, is based in Yemen and has been plotting and attempting attacks against the United States. The group took credit for the failed attack by last year's alleged Christmas Day "underwear bomber," Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Obama was first alerted to the Yemeni packages threat by Brennan at 10:35 p.m. Thursday. At the press conference this afternoon, Brennan would not elaborate on how the intelligence community was tipped off to the possibility of a threat.

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"Whenever you pull a string there's a reason you start to pull that string," he said. "We had insight into the fact that there were suspicious packages out there that we had to find."

As of this afternoon, no suspects were in custody. Packages originating in Yemen and headed for the United States are under particular scrutiny and led to the searches this afternoon.

But White House press secretary Robert Gibbs made it clear that Americans should continue to go about their daily lives.

"The president's not going to change his schedule and there's no reason for Americans to change their schedule," Gibbs said.

In addition, the terror threat level has not been elevated.

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