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USS Cole attacker escapes prison
Sunday, February 5, 2006; Posted: 10:09 a.m. EST (15:09 GMT)
The attack on the USS Cole in 2000 claimed the lives of 17 sailors.
(CNN) -- Interpol has issued "an urgent global security alert" after 23 "dangerous individuals" -- including a man identified as the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 -- escaped from a Yemeni prison.
The international crime-fighting organization said Sunday at least 13 of the 23 who escaped Friday were "convicted al Qaeda terrorists, some of whom were involved in attacks on U.S. and French ships in 2000 and 2002."
"Al Qaeda terrorists have been deemed a serious threat to the entire world community by the U.N. Security Council, by Interpol and by a wide range of countries," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in the statement.
They escaped via a 140-meter (150-yard) -long tunnel "dug by the prisoners and co-conspirators outside," Interpol said.
"Their escape cannot be considered an internal problem for Yemen alone."
Among the escapees was Jamal Ahmed Badawi, the mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, while the destroyer was in the Aden, Yemen, harbor for a routine fuel stop.
The attack killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others.
Also among the escapees was Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, one of those responsible for attacking the French tanker Limburg in 2002.
Sunday, February 5, 2006; Posted: 10:09 a.m. EST (15:09 GMT)
The attack on the USS Cole in 2000 claimed the lives of 17 sailors.
(CNN) -- Interpol has issued "an urgent global security alert" after 23 "dangerous individuals" -- including a man identified as the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 -- escaped from a Yemeni prison.
The international crime-fighting organization said Sunday at least 13 of the 23 who escaped Friday were "convicted al Qaeda terrorists, some of whom were involved in attacks on U.S. and French ships in 2000 and 2002."
"Al Qaeda terrorists have been deemed a serious threat to the entire world community by the U.N. Security Council, by Interpol and by a wide range of countries," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in the statement.
They escaped via a 140-meter (150-yard) -long tunnel "dug by the prisoners and co-conspirators outside," Interpol said.
"Their escape cannot be considered an internal problem for Yemen alone."
Among the escapees was Jamal Ahmed Badawi, the mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000, while the destroyer was in the Aden, Yemen, harbor for a routine fuel stop.
The attack killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others.
Also among the escapees was Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, one of those responsible for attacking the French tanker Limburg in 2002.
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