Somali security offices, in a major success, had foiled an attempt to blow up a plane by arresting a young Somali man with chemicals, liquid and a syringe who was set to board a Dubai-bound plane in November in the capital Mogadishu.

The offices were earlier unaware of the intentions of that youth, thinking the chemicals as a part of the so-called "black dollar" scam in which fraudsters claimed to covert bills into U. S. dollars.

However, the news of Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a up a U. S.-bound plane on Christmas Day using similar chemicals, made security offices think that the youth could have similar intentions.

Ahmed Ali Aftooje, Chief of Police at Mogadishu Airport, said, "Before, we thought these were for washing the money we had seized. But the incident at Detroit shows the similarity of the chemicals. He was carrying empty syringes, liquid and powder separately in the same bag."

Police spokesman Abdulahi Hassan Barise expressed ignorance about the links of captured youth with al-Qaeda or other foreign organizations but made it clear that it would be a terrorist act.