U.S.S. Cole Attack Planner Escapes, Interpol Says
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:52 a.m. ET
LYON, France (AP) -- A man considered a mastermind of the USS Cole bombing that killed 17 sailors in a Yemeni port in 2000 was among 23 people who escaped from a Yemen prison last week, Interpol said Sunday.
The international police agency issued an ''urgent global security alert'' for those who escaped Friday from the prison via a tunnel. It called the escapees ''dangerous individuals.''
A Yemen security official announced the escape of convicted al-Qaida members Friday but did not provide details.
Interpol said in a statement that at least 13 of the 23 escapees were convicted al-Qaida fighters, who escaped via a 140-yard-long tunnel ''dug by the prisoners and co-conspirators outside.''
Yemeni officials confirmed to Interpol that a man considered a mastermind of the Cole attack, identified as Jamal al-Badawi, was among those who escaped.
Al-Badawi was among those sentenced to death in September 2004 for plotting the USS Cole attack. Two suicide bombers blew up an explosives-laden boat next to the destroyer as it refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000.
Another of the 23 escapees was identified as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeiee, considered by Interpol to be one of those responsible for a 2002 attack on the French tanker Limburg off Yemen's coast. That attack killed a Bulgarian crew member and spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.
