Who saved the day in Yemen bomb plot? Once again, a Muslim.

Investigators are still piecing together precisely what happened in the thwarted plot, which involved bombs being sent from Yemen to Chicago, possibly to detonate them in mid-air over the city. Security officials around the world are considering new layers of security at airports, particularly for air-freight companies whose security appeared to be the weak link.

Report: In US, 1 in 3 Al Qaeda plots exposed by Muslims

Al Qaeda has organized no successful attacks on the US since 9/11. In the US, as abroad, cooperation from the broader Muslim community has been crucial.

Often, the whistleblowers are simply friends or associates of a plotter. Failed underwear bomber Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab was originally fingered by his own father, who approached US authorities and warned them that he feared his son was planning to attack the US. The younger Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian, obtained his explosives and some rudimentary training in Yemen.

Farooque Ahmed, the Pakistani American arrested last week for seeking to bomb the DC metro, was also brought to the attention of authorities by a source in the Muslim community.

The FBI then set up an elaborate sting in which at least two individuals working undercover for the government posed as Al Qaeda operatives and engaged his help in organizing an "attack" on the metro system, until enough evidence was collected to carry out an arrest.

Mr. Ahmed's fellow Muslim wasn't the only one to thwart a bomb plot in the US recently.

A report released last month by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a US-based lobbying group, found that 1 in 3 Al Qaeda plots targeting America since 9/11 have been exposed by Muslim Americans. The report argues "this highlights the importance of law enforcement partnering with citizens through community-oriented policing."

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