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October 1, 2006
Yemen: Two Islamists, Al Qaeda Fugitives, Killed
News from Associated Press, VOA News and Gulf News report that two Al Qaeda Islamists were killed and two more arrested in a raid upon a house in a suburb of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, today. The two men who were killed were Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeie and Mohammed al-Dailami.
We reported on February 6 that 23 Islamists had tunnelled their way out of prison. 18 of these had been convicted. Some of those who escaped had been involved with the bombing of the USS Cole, using an explosives-filled boat. This cost the lives of 17 US servicemen on Oct 12, 2000, as it was undergoing a refueling in the port of Aden, southern Yemen.
Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeie and al-Dailami had been among those who had escaped via the 140 foot long tunnel, with assistance from "co-conspirators outside", according to an Interpol report.
Rabeiee had been sentenced to death last year for his part in an attack on a French tanker, the Limburg, on October 6, 2002. In this attack, which again used an explosives-laden boat, a Bulgarian crewman was killed, and the Limbourg spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the sea off the Yemeni coast. A month after the Limburg attack, Al-Rabeiee was convicted of attacking a US oil company helicopter and setting off explosives at a civil aviation authority building.
Of the 23 who made their escape, nine have surrendered, and four, including al-Rabeiee and al-Dailami, have been killed. Ten are still at large. These include Jamal al-Badawi, who was convicted in September 2004 of plotting and carrying out the attack upon the USS Cole.
The Yemeni government, an ally of the US, had offered a $25,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the 23 fugitives.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 1, 2006 3:40 PM
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