Saudi Arabia helped identify the security threat from Yemen, the White House said on Friday, after two packages containing explosives were discovered aboard cargo planes bound for the United States.

"The US is grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their assistance in developing information that helped underscore the imminence of the threat emanating from Yemen," said John Brennan, President Barack Obama's adviser on counter terrorism.

Obama indicated that he suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had been behind the attempt to send the packages to "two places of Jewish worship in Chicago."

Brennan said in a statement that the Saudis, as well as officials in Britain, the United Arab Emirates and "other friends and partners," had assisted the United States in identifying the suspicious packages in Dubai and at Britain's East Midlands Airport.-Reuters