Yemen frees one of USS Cole bombers

Source: AP

SAN'A, Yemen - Yemen has set free one of the al-Qaida masterminds of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors, a senior security official said Thursday.

Jamal al-Badawi, who is wanted by the FBI, was convicted in 2004 of plotting, preparing and helping carry out the USS Cole bombing and received a death sentence that was commuted to 15 years in prison.

He and 22 others, mostly al-Qaida fighters, escaped from prison in 2004. But al-Badawi was granted his freedom after turning himself in 15 days ago and pledging loyalty to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said police were told by the government to "stop all previous orders concerning measures adopted against al-Badawi."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071026/ap_on_re_mi_ea/yemen_terrorism

trans-mission accomplished.

he put it in writing........ !
lol

yeah.
Hope that tracking implant chip stuck in his neck is going to work out all right

;)

lol

/sarc

Source: Reuters


Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26326029.htm

Justice Department 'dismayed' over release of USS Cole bombing leader
snip
The retired former commander of the Cole called the release "disappointing."

"In the war on terrorism, actions speak stronger than words, and this act by the Yemeni government is a clear demonstration that they are neither a reliable nor trustworthy partner in the war on terrorism," said Cmdr. Kirk Lippold.

U.S. law enforcement officials close to the case privately expressed outrage over the release of al-Badawi.

"He's got American blood on his hands. He confessed to what he did ... and they let him go," said one official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

"This will not be the last we hear of him," another federal official under the same restriction told CNN's Kelli Arena.

snip

Al-Badawi, convicted in 2004 and sentenced to death, previously escaped from prison in 2003, before his trial, and was recaptured in 2004. In 2006, he escaped again with 22 others, and had been at large since then

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/26/uss.cole/

So when the predator drone hits the house he is being kept under "house arrest" in we will see it as breaking news;

"US bombs Yemen" - women and children feared dead


dunno, just the same, I see him as a dead man walking,shunned by his old 'pals' due to him being a security risk....yet.... they would be willing to make a few $ terminating one of their own to advance the greater jihad cause ;)



Top Yemen Qaeda suspect turns himself in


Oct 16, 2007

snip

The Yemeni interior ministry had accused the fugitives of masterminding a July 2 suicide bombing in Marib, 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of Sanaa, which killed eight Spanish tourists and two local drivers.

Badawi and the two fugitives are also among some three dozen Yemenis on trial on charges of planning or carrying out attacks for Al-Qaeda.

These include an abortive twin attack in September 2006 on an oil refinery at Marib and petrol storage tanks at the Dhabba terminal operated by the Canadian firm Nexen in southeastern Hadramut province.

A verdict is due on November 7.

Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4ySUm5gnVdt_JxNmcY441zpY1xA



November 7th......Doubt the MSM will carry that story

A Slap in the Face
Yemen's handling of Cole bomber stuns Bush antiterror chief

Oct 31, 2007

President Bush's top counterterrorism adviser flew to Yemen last week to praise that country's cooperation in the war on terrorism just days before Yemeni authorities reportedly pardoned and released one of the principal architects of the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

The apparent release of confessed Al Qaeda operative Jamal al-Badawi, who has been indicted in New York on 50 terrorism counts, was a personal embarrassment to senior White House aide Frances Fragos Townsend.

Since last week, Yemeni authorities have insisted that Badawi is back in "custody," but U.S. officials remain deeply skeptical about the current status of a fanatic follower of Osama bin Laden whom they hold directly responsible for the deaths of 17 U.S. sailors aboard the Cole.

Just last Wednesday, Badawi—who in 2004 was convicted by a Yemeni court and received the death penalty—was reportedly receiving well-wishers at his home in Aden after pledging his loyalty to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yet two days earlier, on Oct. 24, Townsend had met with Saleh in the country's capital of Sana to personally hand-deliver a letter from President Bush affirming U.S. support for his government's assistance in the War on Terror. BUSH PRAISES YEMEN'S ROLE IN COMBATING TERRORISM read the headline in the English-language Yemen Times last week announcing Towsend's meeting with Saleh.

Townsend, who serves as Bush's chief assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, was furious to learn of Badawi's release and has taken the lead role in communicating the U.S. government displeasure with the handling of the Al Qaeda figure, according to a senior administration official who asked not to be identified because of diplomatic sensitivities.

Compounding the insult, U.S. officials say they have strong reason to believe a number of other Al Qaeda figures have been released by the Yemenis, including Jaber Elbaneh, an FBI fugitive who was indicted for providing material support to Al Qaeda as part of the investigation into a terror cell in Lackawana, N.Y., in 2003.

In a brief interview with NEWSWEEK on Wednesday, Townsend—who had worked on the Cole investigation when she served in the Justice Department during the Clinton administration—made clear her frustration over the chain of events. "There is nobody in Yemen we care more about than Badawi," she said. Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said in a statement to NEWSWEEK: "We are dismayed and deeply disappointed in the Government of Yemen's decision not to imprison" Badawi. He added that Townsend, who was also in Saudi Arabia last week, was on the ground in Yemen "for just a few hours."


...As for Yemeni claims that Badawi is back in custody, Lippold is among those who are more than skeptical. "I will believe what the Yemeni government says when they are willing to allow us to prosecute individuals who carry out the murder of U.S. citizens. I don't believe they are reliable or trustworthy partners in the war against terrorism."

more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/67336



Oh, really. You stupid motherfuckers, you just finally get this?!!

=====================

US Reconsiders Some Aid to Yemen
By ANNE GEARAN – 2 days ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is reconsidering some aid to Mideast ally Yemen after the reported release of a convicted leader in the fatal terror bombing of a U.S. warship. Yemen scrambled Monday to say the suspect is in custody.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States is raising the case of Jamal al-Badawi with Yemen.

"This was someone who was implicated in the Cole bombing and someone who can't be running free," he said. "He needs to be in jail."

Separately, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. agency that distributes foreign aid based on nations' track records for good government, canceled a ceremony set for Wednesday to inaugurate a $20.6 million grant to Yemen.

The agency is "reviewing its relationship with Yemen, including the country's commitment to the rule of law," in light of al-Badawi's reported release, a MCC official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the review is not complete.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hE4YNU5_a4ak-sJ0nl4kemPlSx8QD8SJ3VUO0