US: Al-Badawi was in Jail Monday
But now its Tuesday. Al-Badawi surrendered, was freed, went back to jail for at least a day and now what?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said on Monday it had confirmed that a man convicted over the al Qaeda bombing of the U.S. Navy ship Cole in 2000 was still in prison in Yemen despite reports of his release.
U.S. officials were troubled by reports last week that Jamal Badawi had been released from prison, saying he should remain in jail and putting on hold plans to give the country a $20.6 million grant.
“We were able to physically confirm today the presence of Jamal Badawi at a prison in Aden,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos. Earlier, the State Department said it did not know where Badawi was.
When the 23 al-Qaeda operatives escaped jail in February 2006, President Saleh said at the time that he personally was in phone contact with all of them. Saleh negotiated several surrenders whereby the escapees are then freed based on a security guarantee. Yemen defends this practice as a pragmatic way to deal with extremists.
The Yemeni Defenese Ministry reported Al-Badawi surrendered on October 10. The AP reported al-Badawi was granted his freedom after pledging loyalty to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh based on the statement of a Yemeni official. The official said police were told by the government to “stop all previous orders concerning measures adopted against al-Badawi.” Witnesses told The Associated Press that al-Badawi was receiving well-wishers at his home.
The Interior Ministry later said al-Badawi, who was released, “is now detained by security authorities and being interrogated in accordance to the law,” DPA reported. So the US laid eyes on him in jail. That’s good, but where will he be tomorrow?
Update from CNN The newest spin (I think we are up to number five) is he wanted to visit him family before going back to jail. Oh. I get it now, he was just freed for a widdle while…
