Jaber Elbaneh May be in Yemeni Jail: His Uncles and Friends are in US Jail
On May 13, the Yemeni newspaper Ray News reported that fugitive terrorist Jaber Elbaneh (Jabr Al-Banna) surrendered to Yemeni authorities. That’s the good news; the bad news is that its almost two weeks later and the FBI hasn’t been able to confirm he’s in custody.
Elbaneh is among the FBI’s most wanted terrorists. He was charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization and conspiring to provide material support to Al-Qaeda in a 2003 federal criminal complaint unsealed in Buffalo, New York. Elbaneh reportedly trained at the al-Farook training camp in Afghanistan along with six other Yemeni men from Lackawanna, New York. The six pleaded guilty on terror related charges in 2003, and received sentences ranging from seven to ten years.
Elbaneh never returned to the US and in 2002, was reported to be in Yemen along with another American from Lackawanna Kamal Derwish. An Al-Qaeda operative, Derwish at the time was the only American known to have attained a position of authority in al-Qaeda. Derwish was killed by a CIA-fired Hellfire missile in Yemen in November 2002 along with Yemeni al-Qaeda chief and Cole bombing suspect, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi.
In 2006, Jaber Elbaneh’s uncle Mohammed was convicted of illegally transmitting millions of dollars to Yemen. In a plea deal, Mohamed Albanna was sentenced to five years imprisonment and three years supervised release. Another of Jaber’s uncles, Mohammed’s brother, Ali A. Albanna received a sentence of 56 months imprisonment and two years supervised release.
At the time, US Attorney Terrance P. Flynn noted that Ali A. Albanna admitted in his plea agreement that in March of 2002, he handled a money transfer from Yahya Goba (one of the Lackawanna six) in New York to Kamal Derwish in Yemen. ( Goba recently testified in the trial of Jose Padilla, describing for the prosecution the al-Farook al-Qaeda training camp that the US charges Padilla attended.)
Jaber Elbaneh was reported in custody of the Yemeni authorities in 2004. Yemen never officially responded to US requests to hand Elbaneh, an American citizen, to US custody.
In 2006, Elbaneh escaped from a maximum security prison in Yemen’s capital along with 22 other high level al-Qaeda operatives. Eight who turned themselves after negotiations in were later released. The US offered forensic assistance to the Yemeni government after four of the escapees were killed in a “thwarted terror attack” and their remains “strewn all over the place” according to an official statement by the Interior Ministry. The offer was not accepted US officials reported at the time. One of the escapees, Yaser Al-Humaikani, was killed in Abian in January 2007 after a random identity check sparked a shoot-out.
Considering Elbaneh is an American citizen, its surprising the Yemeni regime hasn’t let US representative go take his fingerprints. Meanwhile hope springs eternal: “We certainly do hope he is caught,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday.
