SANAA, 7 March 2006 — Two more suspected Al-Qaeda operatives from a group of 23 men who tunneled their way out of an intelligence jail in the Yemeni capital last month have surrendered to authorities, a state-run media reported on yesterday.
“Two of the Al-Qaeda escapees gave themselves up in the past two days to police,” the Defense Ministry’s 26sep.net website said, quoting “well-informed” sources.
“They told police officials that they had decided to surrender after they found it difficult to stay on the run for a longer time with police pursuing them.”
Security officials said the two surrendered in the southeastern province of Hadhramout on Saturday.
The surrender of the two men brings to five the number of escapees who have given themselves up to authorities since the Feb. 3 jailbreak, which dealt a major blow to Yemen’s efforts to pursue the supporters of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Among the escapees were 13 men convicted in the 2000 bombing of the US destroyer USS Cole and the 2002 attack on the French oil tanker Limburg off Yemen.
Authorities said the men dug a 44-meter-long tunnel from their cell to a nearby mosque using steel food pots and cooking tools.
Listed among the fugitives was the second main convict in the USS Cole bombing, Jamal Al-Badawi. He had been serving a 15-year jail term. Four other convicts in the attack serving jail terms from four to 10 years also fled the prison.
The suspected mastermind of the attack, Abdul-Raheem Al-Nashri, was tried in absentia and sentenced to death. He is reportedly in the custody of US authorities.
Also among the fugitives was Fawaz Al-Rabyee, whom a state security court sentenced to death in August 2004 after convicting him of leading a 14-member group linked to Al-Qaeda.
Al-Rabyee, who is wanted by US authorities over suspected links to Osama Bin Laden, was found guilty in a spate of attacks including the October 2002 bombing of the Limburg.
The Interior Ministry has offered a five-million-riyal ($25,600) reward for information about any of the escapees.
