Jabr Elbaneh Stays in Jail Until October
so says the judge…
SANAA: A Yemeni court yesterday sent back to prison a convicted top Al Qaeda militant with a $5mn US bounty on his head, rejecting his appeal to be released on bail.
The appeal court in Sanaa turned down the bail application by Jaber al-Banna, one of 36 convicted militants who are appealing prison sentences of between two and 15 years.
Banna was sentenced to 10 years in jail last year while he was still on the run after being convicted of plotting a suicide bomb attack on oil facilities in Yemen in September 2006 that was foiled by police. He was ordered yesterday to return to court on October 11 when the verdict on his appeal would be delivered.
Banna surrendered in December after several months of negotiations with officials. There has been no word of what deal, if any, was struck.
He was granted bail on February 23 after launching the appeal and providing a written statement promising to return to court for future hearings but was remanded in custody when he appeared at court on May 18.
Banna, who has joint US-Yemeni citizenship, still features on a US “most wanted” list, over accusations by Washington that he has provided material support to Al Qaeda.
He has branded the sentence “unjust” and accused Yemen’s government of colluding with the US to imprison him.
Banna was identified by the FBI in 2003 as a member of a cell called the Lackawanna Six.
US officials have said he was among the group of young men from Buffalo, New York, who allegedly travelled to Afghanistan in the spring of 2001 to train in Al Qaeda camps.
Washington has clashed with Sanaa over Yemen’s treatment of Banna and fellow Al Qaeda militant Jamal al-Badawi, jailed for 15 years for his part in the October 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole off Aden in which 17 sailors died.
Banna and Badawi, who also had a $5mn bounty on his head, were among 23 Al Qaeda militants who broke out of jail in February 2006.
Badawi surrendered last October but neighbours said he was allowed to serve the rest of his sentence under house
