Ambiguous circumstances behind jail breakers’ capture [Archives:2006/927/Local News]

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March 9 2006

Amel Al-Ariqi
SANA'A, Mar. 7 ) Yemeni forces have recaptured some of the 23 Al-Qaeda prisoners who dug out of a Sana'a intelligence jail Feb. 3, media sources reported Monday.

Details of the identities and number of inmates and the way they were arrested are not yet clear. According to Reuters, security authorities arrested three of the Al-Qaeda escapees Sunday. However, the Defense Ministry's 26 September Net web site said two escapees gave themselves up to police in the past two days.

Quoting “well-informed” sources, the web site reported, “The two surrendered Saturday in the southeastern province of Hadhramout. They told police officials they decided to surrender after finding it difficult to stay on the run any longer with police pursuing them.”

Agence France-Presse (AFP), quoting a security official on condition of anonymity, reported Tuesday that two escapees were arrested with the help of three other recently surrendered jail breakers. The men, who hail from the southeastern Al-Beidha province, were arrested Sunday night in Sana'a disguised in civilian clothing.

Last month, President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that three other escaped Al-Qaeda militants surrendered to authorities. He told Al-Hayat newspaper that security forces were also in contact with other fugitives among the group.

Fugitives include Jamal Badawi, leader of the 2000 bombing of the U.S. warship Cole and the 2002 attack on French supertanker Limburg, and Fawaz Al-Rabyee, a Yemeni-American wanted by the U.S. Al-Rabyee was sentenced to death in August 2004 following his conviction for leading a 14-member group linked to the terrorist Al-Qaeda organization

Yemen's Interior Ministry announced a YR 5 million reward ($25,600) for information on any of the Al-Qaeda escapees who broke out of their prison at intelligence service headquarters in the southern Sana'a suburb of Hadda. Authorities said the men dug a 44-meter-long tunnel from their cell to a nearby mosque using steel food pots and cooking tools.

The incident drew anger and astonishment from the U.S., which criticized Yemen for housing prisoners too close together and without sufficient restrictions. According to media, Yemeni authorities at that time rejected a U.S. request to interrogate detainees held by security officials following the escape.

In this regard, Deputy Premier Interior Minister Rashad Al-Alimi confirmed Monday at a conference on fighting terrorism funding organized by the UN Regional Bureau for the Middle East and South Africa that Yemen is the first to join international efforts to fight terrorism. “The political leadership gave priority in its programs to the issue of fighting terror and the resources that fund it,” Al-Alimi said, according to Saba news.
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