http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=77834&d=15&m=2&y=2006
Wednesday, 15, February, 2006 (16, Muharram, 1427)
Yemen Offers Reward for Tip-Offs on Jail Escapees
Khaled Al-Mahdi, Arab News
SANAA, 15 February 2006 - Yemen announced yesterday a
five-million-rial ($25,600) reward for information about any of the 23 Al-Qaeda
operatives who have escaped from a heavily guarded jail in Sanaa earlier this
month.
The 23 men dug a tunnel out of their prison at headquarters
of the intelligence services in the southern Sanaa suburb of Hadda on Feb. 3.
The Interior Ministry has allocated a telephone number for
information about the fugitives and assured the public that it guarantees the
highest degree of confidentiality for those providing tip-offs, the Saba news
agency reported.
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.
A report posted on a website run by the Defense Ministry
disclosed yesterday new details about the tunnel through which the detainees
fled.
The report said the men dug a 44-meter-long tunnel from their
cell to a nearby mosque. The prisoners used steel food pots and cooking tools
to dig their way out of the jail. They first dug three meters down from their
cell floor and then continued toward the mosque, digging a tunnel measuring 60
by 80 centimeters.
In the aftermath of the jailbreak, Yemen issued international
arrest warrants and asked the Interpol to help trace and arrest them.
Special anti-terrorism units have been since launching raids
on houses in Sanaa and other cities in search for the jail breakers, and around
200 of their relatives and friends had been detained for interrogation,
security officials said.
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 the Al-Qaeda terrorist network
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