Washington ( CNN ) -- A man who volunteered as a suicide bomber for a terrorist group intent on blowing up a U.S.-bound plane was working instead as an intelligence agent for Saudi Arabia , The New York Times reported Tuesday , citing American and foreign officials . The double agent departed Yemen , traveled through the United Arab Emirates and gave the bomb and information about al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to the CIA , Saudi intelligence and other foreign intelligence agencies , the newspaper said . The bomb , which was intended to pass undetected through airport security , was given to the FBI , which was poring over it , the newspaper said . The Times , citing officials , said the agent works for Saudi intelligence , which has `` cooperated closely '' with the CIA for years . The officials , who would not identify the man , said he is safe in Saudi Arabia , the newspaper reported . Citing a senior American official , the newspaper described the device as sewn into `` custom fit '' underwear and able to be detonated in two ways . That redundancy may have been an attempt to ensure that an attempt to blow up a jet over Detroit in 2009 , which failed because the bomb did not detonate , would not be repeated . The primary charge in the latest device was high-grade military explosive that the Times , quoting an official , said `` undoubtedly would have brought down an aircraft . '' A senior administration official told CNN that officials were debating whether to release photographs of the device to law enforcement agencies . On one side of the argument , Transportation Safety Administration screeners and law enforcement might more easily identify any similar devices made as part of the same plot , the official said . But officials were reluctant to do so out of concern that the photographs would be leaked to the news media and that the would-be bombers would learn what law enforcement knows -- and might not know -- about the bomb 's workings . The news of the double agent might explain comments made earlier Tuesday by John Brennan , the chief White House counterterrorism adviser , who told ABC 's `` Good Morning America '' that U.S. officials were confident they were in control of the situation leading up to the seizure of the improvised explosive device , or IED . Brennan said that officials believe redundant security systems would have prevented any attempt at bombing a flight from succeeding , but analysts were studying the device to see whether security procedures should be adjusted . `` We 're trying to make sure that we take the measures that we need to prevent any other type of IED , similarly constructed , from getting through security procedures , '' Brennan said . The device investigators were studying is more sophisticated than were previous ones and represents a disconcerting advance in al Qaeda bomb-making techniques , officials said Tuesday . `` It is a device similar to the underwear bomber of 2009 , but an evolution to that , '' Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said . The device never posed an immediate danger to air travel or the United States , she said . But lawmakers said more such devices may exist , and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers , R-Michigan , said the release of information about the device could complicate an effort to seal the long-term threat . `` If something bad happens because it was leaked too early , that 's a catastrophe and it 's also a crime , '' Rogers told CNN . News about the device became public on Monday , about two weeks after U.S. intelligence agents thwarted the plot after receiving a tip from Saudi Arabia , a source familiar with the operation said . Information from the double agent proved key to a CIA drone strike Sunday in Yemen that killed Fahd al Quso , 37 , a senior operative of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . Al-Quso was a suspect in the bombing in 2000 of the USS Cole in Yemen . The vehicle he was in was hit by a drone strike in the Rafdh district in Shabwa province , U.S. officials said . Al Qaeda 's bomb-makers evolve , adapt . `` I was told by the White House they are connected ; they 're part of the same operation , '' the source familiar with the operation said . Al Quso hinted at the existence of another bomb effort in February , when he was asked whether the group had stopped exporting terrorism operations . `` The war did n't end between us and our enemies , '' he replied . `` Wait for what is coming . '' Western officials describe AQAP as al Qaeda 's most dangerous affiliate . U.S. Rep. Peter King of New York , chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee , expressed dismay that the news was public . `` It 's really , to me , unfortunate that this has gotten out , because this could really interfere with operations overseas , '' he said . `` My understanding is a major investigation is going to be launched because of this . '' Officials have provided few specifics about the device . But Rogers said it underscores al Qaeda 's continuing efforts to carry out terrorist attacks . `` This is a device that was more sophisticated , had some fail-safes built into it , and it was something that concerns us because it tells us that they brought some very capable people together to build something , '' he said . A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said authorities have `` no specific , credible information regarding an active terrorist plot against the U.S. at this time . '' Though the threat was foiled around the time of the anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden , a second U.S. counterterrorism official said the two were not related . President Barack Obama was told last month about the plot , which `` underscores the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism here and abroad , '' the White House said . AQAP has been responsible for two of the most audacious attempts to target the United States in recent years : the attempted Christmas 2009 bombing and a 2010 attempt to load bombs hidden inside printer cartridges onto cargo planes headed for Chicago . In both cases , U.S. authorities believe the bombs were built by Ibrahim al-Asiri . Both devices contained PETN , a white , powdery explosive that conventional `` single-beam '' X-ray machines are rarely able to detect . In 2009 , al-Asiri outfitted his brother , Abdullah al-Asiri , with a PETN-based underwear bomb in an attempt to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef , a top Saudi security official . The device killed his brother instantly but failed to kill its target . `` We are not ready to say the threat stream is over , '' a U.S. official told CNN . `` We believe external plotting continues . '' The investigation involves a number of countries and is `` ongoing , '' King , R-New York , said on CNN 's `` Starting Point . '' He said the leadership of al Qaeda was intimately involved in the plot . Rogers told CNN International 's Christiane Amanpour , `` I can confirm to you that , in fact , it was an al Qaeda core group that was responsible for the development and procurement and financing and putting together this particular bomb . '' As the hunt continues for the mastermind bomber , a U.S. official said the assumption continues to be that al-Asiri is training others in bombmaking . `` They understand that Asiri is going to be killed or captured one day , '' Mustafa Alani , the director of security and defense studies at the Gulf Research Center , told CNN . Alani had been briefed on AQAP by Saudi counterterrorism officials . `` We 're talking about a new generation of very skillful bomb builders and very committed people . '' U.S. counterterrorism agencies have reached a similar conclusion . `` I think the fear is not just that he 'll share his ability within his own circle , but rather more widely , and send it to other al Qaeda-sympathetic individuals or organizations , '' a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told CNN in March . Yemen 's government has been fighting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for years with mixed results . Yemen president vows offensive against al Qaeda . Yemeni authorities appeared miffed by the revelations of the foiled plot , saying that Washington had shared no information with them . `` Yemen has been a key ally to the United States when it comes to fighting terror and cooperates in every way possible , '' said a senior intelligence official in Yemen who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation . `` It 's very sad to know that the United States did not share such critical intelligence information with Yemen . `` The United States can not win the war on terror alone , and intelligence sharing must be bilateral if it expects complete cooperation from Yemen . '' `` This was a key victory for us , '' King said . `` It also reminds us , though , that this war is not going to end in Afghanistan . ... Al Qaeda has metastasized and morphed . And they are constantly attempting to find new ways to get at us . '' CNN 's Barbara Starr , National Security Contributor Fran Townsend , Pam Benson , Elise Labott , Jessica Yellin , Nic Robertson , journalist Hakim al-Masmari contributed to this report .
Suicide bomber who was instead working as an intelligence agent , CIA reports . Agent has ` ` cooperated closely '' with the CIA , officials tell The New York Times . The informant also provided information that aided the CIA drone strike last night .