Gaber Elbaneh Comes to Court and Leaves
At least this time he showed up to court for his appeal.
Fox News: A Yemeni-American, one of the FBI’s 26 “most wanted” for terrorism, appeared at a session of his trial in a Yemeni court Saturday with bodyguards and then walked free, apparently not subject to any form of incarceration, eyewitnesses said.
The 41-year-old Jaber Elbaneh attended a session of the trial for him and 22 other Al Qaeda members charged for a series attacks on oil facilities….”He entered the courtroom surrounded by four bodyguards, introduced himself to the judge then he left,” the eyewitness said about Elbaneh who is believed to be living with his family in the province of al-Dalai, some 220 kilometers south of San’a, despite being on trial. (Hat tip: Report on Arrakis
New Yorker Gaber Elbaneh attended the al-Farouq terrrorist training camp in Afghanistan with several of his friends from Lackawanna, NY who later were arrested upon their return to the US. Elbaneh’s friends, known as the Lackawanna Six, pleaded guilty to multiple terror related offenses and are in jail. Elbaneh never returned to the US. Instead he went to Yemen in 2002.
He among the 23 al-Qaeda linked prisoners who escaped from Yemeni jail in February 2006. Also in 2006, two of Elbaneh’s uncles in Buffalo, NY pleaded guilty and were convicted of illegally transferring millions of dollars to Yemen.
Yemen supposedly thwarted terror attacks against two oil facilities in the days preceding the September 2006 presidential election. There are many unanswered questions about the attacks. Elbaneh was charged in absentia with masterminding the plot as were several of the escapees.
In May 2007, Elbaneh surrendered after negotiation with Yemeni President Saleh. The FBI was unable to confirm Elbaneh was in custody. Yemen refused to extradite Elbaneh to the US after his surrender, although he is a US citizen. In November 2007 Elbaneh was convicted of the terror attacks and sentenced to ten years in absentia. Later that month, his family reported he was living free in Yemen. And he still is.
The judge was surprised to see him:
A US-wanted Jaber al-Bana’a, also known Abu Ahmad, appeared on Saturday at the court during a session on the case of 36-member cell accused of planning for attacks on oil facilities in Safer of Mareb and Hadramout.
During the hearing session, Jaber stood before the judge and introduced himself as Jaber al-Bana’a whom a primary court sentenced to ten years before his escape from prison. Jaber denounced charges against him and said he had never carried out any terror act in Yemen or in Unites States.
The prosecutor was surprised and asked for his identity card. “I am Jaber al-Bana’a whom the primary court sentenced me to ten years in jail. I could escape the prison of Political Security, but I surrendered to President Ali Abdullah Saleh”.
Al-Bana’a left the court with four companions. The court adjourned the session until March 9.
Al-Bana’a is listed by FBI as “Most Wanted Terrorists” with a reward of 5 million dollars for information leading to his arrest.
More:
What secret deal? Its not a secret.
Yemen Post
In its first session, looking into the case of 36 Al-Qaeda elements named as ‘Al-Qaeda Cell in Arab Peninsula–Yemen), the court board were surprised when a person stood up, introduced himself as Jabr Al-Bana and submitted his identity card to them.”I have not committed any act; neither in this country nor in America. I was sentenced to 10 years in prison for doing no offence. This is not fair,” he said.He added that he escaped the Political Security prison and willingly turned himself in to President Saleh.
Further, the court ordered allowing Jabr Al-Bana access to the first-instance ruling documents. By the end of the session, Al-Bana left the court without being intercepted by any one. He also declined to answer pressmen’s questions.
Before his escape from the PS, Al-Bana was convicted of having links to Al-Qaeda Organization and the court ruling ordered imprisoning him for ten years.
In a session headed by Judge Mohammed Hussein Al-Hakimi held on Saturday, Al-Bana told the court he was wronged with the first-instance ruling and stressed he is not connected with Al-Qaeda.
Meanwhile, the Appeal Court adjourned looking into Safer and Al-Dhabah facilities’ attackers until next March.
After reviewing the indictments and confessions of the convict as well as the first-instance ruling against them issued in Nov. 7, 2007 sentencing them to terms ranging from two to five years, prosecution representative Saeed Al-Aqel demanded tougher rulings against the 19 members of the cell and noted the issued primary ruling does not come to the level of crimes attributed to them.
Al-Aqel also hinted that the cell members participated in preparations for terrorist attacks on oil facilities in Mareb’s Safer and Hadramout’s Al-Dhabah late in September 2006.
At the session’s end, the court submitted the indictment of prosecution to the contesters to be challenged in the next session due to be held on Sunday, March 9. It also ordered the coercive attendance of Jameel Al-Haimi to challenge’s Al-Hussami’s appeal.
Other convicts in case No. 36 are Nasser Al-Wahashi, a PS escapee and the current leader of Al-Qaeda Organization in Yemen, Qasim Al-Raymi and Ibrahim Huidi who were sentenced for 15 years in prison.
As for Limburg case, Hamza Al-Qua’iti was sentenced to 12 years, while Jabr Al-Bana and Mohammed Al-Umdah were sentenced to 10 years and they surrendered to police under mediation efforts and official promises to abate the ruling against them.
Secret Deal
The trial is timed with media outlets speaking of a secret deal between the official authorities represented in the National Security and Al-Qaeda Organization by which the latter pledge to give up terrorist operations in return for stopping the hunt of Al-Qaeda leaders and affiliates including Ibrhaim Huidi and allowing him to return back to his homeland in Hodeidah.
Al-Bana is an American national of Yemeni origin and he is counted by FBI as the key supporter of the Lackawanna terrorist cell and listed among the most dangerous members in the cell. The U.S. administration has offered $5 million for information that leads to his arrest.
