British Home Secretary Theresa May has announced that a man who was arrested earlier this year on charges of trying to plan an attack against the U.K. was a member of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Although news of the arrest was made public earlier this year, officials did not reveal the suspect's ties to AQAP at the time.

Some say that May's announcement underscores the threat posed by AQAP to countries around the world. In addition to revealing the connections between the terror suspect and AQAP, May also provided new details about AQAP's recent attempt to send explosive devices to the U.S. on board cargo planes. May noted that the attempted attack bore similarities to the attack on Pan Am 103 in 1988 by the fact that both involved explosives that were not being carried by terrorists.

In the recent attempted by AQAP, the explosive device was concealed in a printer cartridge that was contained inside a package on board a plane that was bound for Chicago. The package was intercepted at a British airport last Friday. Although the plot was foiled, AQAP remains a significant threat, May said, as it is working develop ties to the Somali terrorist group Al Shabaab.