CNN: U.S. PREPARES ATTACK ON YEMEN

Report: US gears up for attack in Yemen after botched plane attack

American officials tell CNN that Washington, Yemen looking for new al-Qaeda targets in case Obama orders retaliatory strike; Yemen investigating whether Nigerian suspected in attempted attack spent time with terrorists in country.

WASHINGTON - The US and Yemen are looking at new targets in Yemen for a potential retaliation strike, two senior American officials told CNN Tuesday following the failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, which al-Qaeda in Yemen claims it organized.

According to CNN, the officials stressed the effort is aimed at being ready with options for the White House if President Barack Obama orders a retaliatory strike, adding that the effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.

One of the officials was quoted by CNN as saying that the plan is part of a new classified agreement with the Yemeni government that the two countries will work together and that the US will remain publicly silent on its role in providing intelligence and weapons to conduct strikes.

The CNN report said that "by all accounts, the agreement would allow the US to fly cruise missiles, fighter jets or unmanned armed drones against targets in Yemen with the consent of that government."

Officials in Yemen are investigating whether the Nigerian suspected in the attempted attack spent time with al-Qaeda terrorists in the country in the months leading up to the botched bombing.