Officials revealed Wednesday they arrested a Somali man in November who was planning a similar terrorist plot to a foiled U.S. attack over the holiday.

The man-- whose name has not been released-- tried to board a Daallo Airlines flight Nov. 13 carrying powdered chemicals and a syringe.

He was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops and is in Somali custody, according to police.

"We don't know whether he's linked with al Qaeda or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist," Somali police spokesman Abdulahi Hassan Barise said. "We caught him red-handed."

That terror plot has chilling similarities to last week's Christmas day attack which was also based on powdered chemicals and a syringe.

Somalia lies just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and terrorists tied to al Qaeda slip back and forth between the two countries in small boats.