A Yemen-based al-Qaeda group has claimed responsibility for a foiled plot to send explosive parcels to the United States last week. In a statement that appeared on Islamist websites yesterday, Al Qaeda for Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP also claimed responsibility for the downing of a United Parcel Service cargo plane in Dubai in September.A US official, however, said that authorities have found no evidence that the crash of the Boeing 747-400 was caused by a bomb. Investigators still do not know what caused the fire that erupted on the plane's main cargo deck.