The al-Qaeda Jailbreak in Yemen :: War on Terror

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February 8, 2006

The al-Qaeda Jailbreak in Yemen

Bill Roggio writes that it's becoming clear there was assistance from within Yemen's security services, and that Yemen's amnesty program for al-Qaeda members is seriously flawed. Yemen's security services are believed to be riddled with Islamist and al-Qaeda sympathizers, and weapons used in an attack on a U.S. consulate in Jeddah in 2004 have been traced back to the Yemeni Defense Ministry.

(...) The escape of twenty three al-Qaeda members from a Yemeni prison raises serious questions about the nation's ability and commitment to fight the terrorist organization. Earlier in the week, Yemen announced the jailbreak, and Interpol immediately issued an "urgent global security alert" seeking the arrest of the terrorists.

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(...) The escapees included Jamal Badawi, the leader of the cell responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen in 2000, which killed 17 U.S. sailors, and Fawaz al-Rabe'ie, the leader of the cell that attacked the French oil tanker Limburg in 2002. Badawi has a $5 million bounty on his head. There is also the possibility that Jaber Elbaneh (see United States v. Jaber Elbaneh - link added), a member of the "Lackawanna Six" al-Qaeda cell from Buffalo, New York, may have been one of the escapees. Elbaneh has been indicted in U.S. criminal court for conspiring to provide aid to a foreign terrorist entity and also has a $5 million reward for his capture.