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Elbaneh's relatives puzzled why he escaped from Yemeni prison
The escape of a suspected al-Qaida trainee from a Yemeni prison more than a week ago is puzzling to his U.S. relatives, leaving them wondering why someone who surrendered on his own would turn around and flee custody.

Jaber Elbaneh, 39, a U.S. citizen accused of training with the "Lackawanna Six," was among a group of 23 known and suspected terrorists who tunneled out of an underground cell in Yemen Feb. 3, the FBI said last week.

"I can't comprehend why he would decide to join the escape after he turned himself in," an uncle, Mohamed Albanna, said at the Buffalo wholesale business where Elbaneh once worked with him.

Albanna and FBI officials said they believe Elbaneh surrendered in Yemen more than two years ago, soon after the U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

With his nephew in custody, "We were relieved because at least we knew he was safe from bounty hunters," Albanna said.

Elbaneh is wanted in Buffalo on a 2002 charge of providing material support to a terrorist organization for allegedly attending Osama bin Laden's al-Farooq camp in Afghanistan months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The United States had asked Yemen to hand over Elbaneh, but Yemen had not yet issued an official response. It was months before the country even confirmed it was holding Elbaneh, authorities said.

"It's very frustrating," said Peter Ahearn, special agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office. "But every country is different, every issue is different" in negotiating extradition.

With Elbaneh again a fugitive, the hefty reward is again up for grabs, leaving the family fearing for his life. The situation took a toll on Elbaneh's father, who died a year ago, Albanna said.

"We were hoping that it might not be true," the uncle said after the FBI listed Elbaneh among those who had escaped. "The bad dream is resurfacing."

Ahearn said he was not aware of any recent attempts by Elbaneh to contact relatives here.

"If any family members are contacted, for his safety they should contact us," he said.

"He is running with a crowd of what we believe are extremely dangerous known terrorists," Ahearn said.

Elbaneh left the United States in the spring of 2001 as part of a larger group recruited from the city of Lackawanna, near Buffalo, to the camp in Afghanistan. Six of his traveling companions _ dubbed the "Lackawanna Six" _ returned to the United States after the training and were arrested in September 2002. All are serving sentences ranging from seven to 10 years after pleading guilty in 2003 to providing support to a terrorist organization.

Elbaneh never returned to the United States, authorities said, traveling instead to his native Yemen to live.

Ahearn declined to speculate on whether Elbaneh's decision to remain in the Middle East was an indication he had been swayed by his al-Qaida training. Authorities have said they knew of no imminent threat posed by the others in the group.

Elbaneh's uncle said the move was one he had contemplated for a few years.

"He had teenage boys that were growing up here and he wanted to raise them in a different atmosphere," Albanna said, "and he figured going back to Yemen would be the best thing for his children."

Elbaneh's parents, his wife and other relatives in Lackawanna opposed the move, Albanna said. Nevertheless, his wife packed up the couple's seven American-born children and joined her husband in 2001, he said.

"He was seeing how kids in the neighborhood were conducting themselves ... showing some signs of disrespect to their parents," Albanna said. "He felt he wasn't going to allow that to happen."

Elbaneh's wife had been visiting him in prison about every two weeks since his arrest, bringing some of the children along, he said. He described his nephew as a family man who never displayed violent behavior.

"We don't know what the last two years have done to him mentally or physically, but having known him just about all his life, he was as harmless a person as you can imagine," Albanna said.

FBI officials said they consider Elbaneh dangerous.

"Given the circumstances of what he's charged with and where it seems he's fled, we certainly would consider him armed and dangerous," said Paul Moskal, an FBI spokesman.

The 23 al-Qaida prisoners, who were kept in the same cell, broke out through a tunnel 180 yards long that surfaced in a mosque. The fugitives also include a man convicted of the 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Aden harbor and another convicted of the 2002 attack on the French tanker Limburg.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=142613