23 Al-Qaeda suspects escape from Political Security Prison [Archives:2006/918/Front Page]
February 6 2006
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SANA'A, Feb. 4 ) Twenty-three suspected Al-Qaeda members escaped Friday from Political Security Central Prison in Sana'a. Some of the escapees are the most important and dangerous members of Yemen's Al-Qaeda network.
The fugitives escaped through a more than 300-meter long underground tunnel. The tunnel was dug from under the women's prayer yard at Al-Awkaf Mosque to Political Security Central Prison, crossing the prison yard to prisoners' cells.
Thirteen escapees belong to the Al-Qaeda network accused of attacking U.S. Navy Destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 American soldiers, and French oil supertanker Limburg docked in Aden Port, spilling 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.
The top fugitives are Jamal Badawi and Fawaz Al-Rabyee. Al-Rabyee was sentenced to death in August 2004 after being convicted of leading a 14-member group linked to the terrorist Al-Qaeda organization. He was found guilty of the October 2002 Limburg bombing. Al-Rabyee also is wanted by U.S. authorities because of suspected links to wanted terrorist and Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Badawi was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the October 2000 USS Cole bombing but his sentence was converted afterwards to a death sentence. He escaped from an Aden prison in 2003 but later was arrested and returned to prison after being found in a mountain cave in bad health.
A similar escape occurred in 2003 when 10 suspected Al-Qaeda members escaped from Political Security Central Prison in Aden. Two suspects, Jamal Mohammed and Fahd Mohammed Al-Kasa, were major Al-Qaeda elements involved in the USS Cole attack.
Senior Interior Ministry officials held emergency meetings, as the escape is considered one of the most dangerous implemented by Yemen's Al-Qaeda network. Ministry officials said Saturday that authorities had begun investigating to determine if the fugitives received inside or outside assistance. They said a massive manhunt is underway and that the fugitives' photographs were distributed to all police stations and intelligence agents in Sana'a and throughout the governorates. Yemeni authorities decided to reshuffle prison officials, as well as dismiss the prison chief and his deputy.
The escape happened a day before the trial of top Al-Qaeda suspect Mohammed Hamdi Al-Ahdal and 14 suspects accused of involvement in terrorism operations in Yemen, especially the 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole.
This incident is expected to outrage the U.S. administration, which will be disappointed and likely inquire about security at the prison as well as in Yemen. The U.S. administration believes Yemen is Bin Laden's ancestral home.
The official list of the suspected prisoners as distributed by the Ministry of Interior consisted only of 22 names, excluding Hamdi Al-Ahdal. The names are: Yaser Naser Al-Homikani, Mohammed Sa'eed Al-Omda, Fawzi Mohammed Al-Wajeh, Zakria Hasen Al-Baihani, Abudlrahman Ahmed Basora, Abdullah Ahmed Al-Remi, Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabe ai, Hizam Saleh Mugli, Gamal Mohammed Al-Badwi, Zakria Hasen Al-Baihani, Abdulrahman Ahmed Basurah, Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Hoidi, Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Mukri, Aref Saleh Mugli, Shafik Ahmed Zaid, Gaber Al-Bana'a, Hamza Salem Al-Kuaiti, Omer Sa'eed Gar Allah, Abdullah Yahya Al-Wa' adi, Khaled Mohammed Al-Batati, Kasem Yahya Al-Remi, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Remi, Mansour Naser Al-Baihani.
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