FBI Most Wanted Jaber Elbaneh was jailed after losing his appeal. Evidence against the Yemeni-American in the 2006 pre-election attack on oil facilities was weak, Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi had said in defending Elbaneh’s prior release on bail after surrendering to President Saleh. However its possible that Elbaneh is innocent in the “thwarted attack” case and the whole thing is a temporary ploy to take some pressure off Saleh after the news about the USS Cole bombers being effectively pardoned.
Wasn’t al-Badawi also charged in the oil facilities case? Saleh’s cousin, the bin Shamlan bodyguard was acquited earlier, and is still rather peeved about the whole thing.
YO: The political security personnel arrested al- Elbaneh immediately and took him from the court hall to the political security prison.
The order came during the Appeal Court’s session for trying 36 al-Qaeda suspects accused of committing terrorist acts in Yemen, including the bombing of some oil facilities in Marib and al-Dhabah of Hadramout in 2006. They are also accused of planning to attack several foreign interests and governmental institutions, as well as public places, including main hotels.
The court also ordered the general prosecution to publish the photos of the suspect Fahd Saleh al-Hawani who is still at large and also for the prosecution to respond to the requests presented by the suspects that demanded they be released.
Update: Appeal still on going
He resurfaced on February 23, when he walked unannounced into a courtroom at the state security court in Sana’a, escorted by two bodyguards. He left the court after the court hearing.
His appearance before the court’s judge was to appeal against a 10-year absentia jail sentence handed to him by a lower court last November.
Since then, he has attended five court hearings without being arrested, prompting US officials to object to the Yemeni government’s leniency with him and renew demands for his extradition to face trial in the United States.
In the sixth hearing on Sunday, prosecutors demanded al-Banna be arrested pending the verdict by the appeal court. The court’s presiding judge Muhammad al-Hakemi responded to the demand and ordered al-Banna to be jailed.
Al-Banna is on trial at the state security court of appeals in Sana’a along with 31 other men convicted by the first instance state security court in Sana’a on November 7, 2007 of plotting terror attacks, including two car bombs attacks at oil facilities in eastern Yemen in 2006.
When he first appeared at the court on February 23, al-Banna, 41, told judges that his conviction was “unfair” and he said he hadn’t plotted any attacks in Yemen or the United States.
“I have not committed any act, neither in this country nor in America,” al-Banna told the court’s panel. “I was sentenced to 10 years in prison for doing no offence. This is not fair,” he said.