US agencies believing that Al Qaeda did have something to do with arming & directing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ...

Declassified, here

"U.S. government experts believe that a statement circulated Monday purporting to come from Al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate that claimed credit for the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a transatlantic airliner is likely authentic and credible, according to a U.S. national-security official. The official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that U.S. intelligence analysts believe that the message really did originate with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the U.S. believes is an Al Qaeda "franchise" that operates in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The official added that U.S. agencies are increasingly willing to believe that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula really did have something to do with arming and directing would-be airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, whose attack failed when he tried to set off his underpants bomb but it burst into flames rather than exploding...."

(more, here)