US ships patrol Yemeni coasts to block al-Qaeda jail escapees

Feb 9, 2006, 19:20 GMT

Sana'a - US Navy ships were deployed off Yemen's coasts Thursday to help block a possible attempt by 23 al-Qaeda jail breakers to flee the country by sea, the US Navy said in a statement.

'The Dutch-led coalition of maritime Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 is supporting the efforts of the government of Yemen to recapture suspected terrorists who escaped from a Yemeni prison February 5,' said the statement issued by the US Naval Forces Central Command in Manama, Bahrain.

The 23 fugitives, including 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, escaped last Friday from a jail at intelligence headquarters in Sana'a.

'Ships from CTF 150 are monitoring international waters along the coast of Yemen in an attempt to either block possible maritime escape routes or capture the suspected terrorists if they make this attempt,' the statement said.

CTF 150 force routinely patrols the international waters of the Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea as part of the anti-terrorist Operation Enduring Freedom.

The prisoners fled through a 70-metre-long underground tunnel from their cells to a mosque on a nearby street.

Among the escapees was the second most important convict in the USS Cole bombing, Jamal al-Badawi. Al-Badawi 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.

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 the terrorist al-Qaeda network.