Elbaneh in the Wind in Yemen
US officials confirm what we knew a few days ago, American Jaber Elbaneh, of Lackawana 7 fame, was one of the escapees in Yemen.
WASHINGTON — U.S. counterterrorism officials said Wednesday that a suspected member of a U.S.-based terror cell was one of a number of convicts who escaped from a prison in Yemen Friday. Jaber Elbaneh, who has been charged along with the so-called “Lackawanna Six,” is believed to have escaped along with Jamal al-Badawi, the suspected mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole.
Elbaneh, a 36-year old American of Yemeni decent, was charged in an FBI criminal complaint with conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Elbaneh, who is from the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna, is believed have attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks with the six other Yemeni-Americans, also from the Buffalo area, who were convicted on terrorism charges.
U.S. officials believe that following the terror training in Afghanistan, Elbaneh went to Yemen — where he was arrested sometime in the last three years. Officials say Elbaneh and the others “have extensive contacts throughout Yemen and the region and are undoubtedly getting help getting out of the country.”
Update: 5 million dollar reward still valid per Buffalo District Attny. ( For Photos, click here.)
