[28 October 2007]
SANA'A, (Saba)- A security source in the interior ministry said on Sunday that Jamal al-Badawi, convicted in the attack on the US destroyer USS Cole in 2000 off the coast of Aden, south of Yemen, is still in custody.

The ministry said on 16 October that al-Badawi, a high-profile al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, had voluntarily surrendered to security authorities.

The United States sharply criticized Yemen last Friday for reports that Yemeni authorities released al-Badawi who is wanted by the FBI for bombing the Cole that killed 17 American sailors.

Al-Badawi 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-Qaeda fighters, escaped from Political Security prison in Sana'a in February 2006.

YA/NS

Saba