(CNN) -- New details are emerging about the agent sent by Saudi counterterrorism agents into Yemen to track a plot by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner. The agent is of Arabic origin but holds a British passport, according to Mustafa Alani, director of security studies at the Gulf Research Center. Alani was briefed on the operation by Saudi counterterrorism officials. The agent, whom another source said had Saudi roots, lived for a long time in the UK and at some point fell in with jihadist sympathizers, Alani told CNN. That made him an attractive target for Saudi counterterrorism agencies, which recruited him about a year ago, Alani said.
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NEW: The mole studied Arabic in Yemen to draw al Qaeda's attention, analyst says
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NEW: Saudi agents smuggled him out of Yemen and separately retrieved the bomb, he says
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The man was a British citizen of Saudi descent who had fallen in with jihadist sympathizers
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Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch has "a whole outfit" targeting U.S., source says
The device that AQAP bomb-makers had built for the mole was flown from Yemen to Saudi Arabia by @placeholder counter-terrorism agents and handed over -- around April 20th -- to U.S. intelligence officials.
Those devices were intercepted after a tip by Saudi counterterrorism, and had the potential to bring down a plane, according to @placeholder and U.S. officials.