13 Al-Qaeda Suspects Escape
Recaptured after a few hours or two days.
Update 2: Ministry of the Interior denies escape occured.
Update: Reportedly recaptured.
Its not the second escape this year but the third. There was another seven in August who escaped jail, in between the 23 in February and this 13.
Sana’a - Thirteen men reportedly suspected of having links to al-Qaeda terrorist activities have escaped from a prison in north- western Yemen, a press report said Saturday.
The report by the Ray News website said the 13 were suspected members of al-Qaeda and that they escaped from a jail in the Hajja province, some 130 kilometres north east of the capital Sana’a. ‘Some of the escapees held Arab nationalities,’ said the report.
Interior Ministry officials confirmed the reported escape, but they told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the jail breakers were were not detained over terror-related charges. Five had been recaptured over the past two days, they added.
The officials said investigations were underway to find out how the detainees managed to escape. The men had been extradited by Saudi authorities after they infiltrated Saudi territory seeking better jobs.
It was the second jailbreak in Yemen this year after 23 al-Qaeda operatives escaped from an intelligence jail in Sana’a on February 3.
The men tunnelled their way out of the high-security intelligence prison. The mass escape embarrassed the Yemeni government and dealt a major blow to its efforts to pursue supporters of al-Qaeda.
Among the February escapees were 13 convicts in the 2000 bombing of the US destroyer USS Cole in the southern Yemeni port of Aden and the bombing of the French oil tanker.
Nine of the escapees have been recaptured or gave themselves up to the authorities, including six convicted in the oil tanker attack.
On September 15, two of the February jail breakers were among four suicide bombers who carried out attacks at two oil facilities in eastern Yemen, according to officials.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Also the report fails to mention that of the February escapees, eight of the eleven re-captured were subsequently released based on the personal guarantee of Sheikh Tarek Fadli.
Also of the 23, Fawaz al-Raibee and Mohammed al-Dailami were killed by Yemeni forces late September, two were killed in the thwarted suicide attacks and eight are still in the wind including Jabeer Elbanegh and Jamal Badawi.
Several stories reported by various media sources yesterday saying that a group of suspects escaped a jail in Hajja but recaptured a short while after. Al-Sahwa of Islah party which first conveyed the news on its website said that 9 prisoners of various nationalities, including Saudis and a Yemeni, escaped from the PSO prison in Hajja but security troops managed to arrest them after a few hours at Al-Abbal area in Mebyan district (close to the Hajja city) where they were hiding in a mosque.
Security sources did not reveal their charges but said that they are all wanted by their countries.
On the other hand, RAY news of the opposition Rabita party, said through its correspondent in Hajja that the number of escapees was 13, and that hey are suspected of being Qaeda members. It said that they escaped in a manner still unclear and that security authorities are now discussing the issue. The news service did say that some of them, but not al were arrested and retuned to prison, while the majority have escaped.
A third story came by the indepndent Naba News which said , quoting a security source, that the escapees were 13,and that the actual escape took place Thursday evening, and that none of them is Qaeda suspect, but they are those deported from Saudi Arabia for illegal entry from Yemen. They were captured by Saudi police and returned to Yemen. The source said that only 5 of them were re-arrested until Saturday, while the pursuit is on for the rest. HE added that the Ministry of Interior sent a high level team to investigate the incident where the prison director and officers are being interrogated.
Although he denied the news the RAY News had published that they are Qaeda suspects, the source declined to reveal their nationalities.
In April 2003 Jamal Al-Badawi, top Qaeda wanted , and 9 of his comrades escaped the Aden PSO prison through a bathroom window. In Feb, 2006 23 escaped (Jamal Al-Badawi as well) the PSO HQ prison in Sana’a through a trench they dug to a nearby mosque.
