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| Africa Horn |
| US Yemen aid linked to al-Queda suspect |
| 2007-10-29 |
| THE United States has linked an aid package for Yemen to the imprisonment of an escaped al-Qaida fighter who reportedly was allowed to go home after turning himself in earlier this month. Jamal al-Badawi was sentenced to death for the 2000 bombing of the US Navy destroyer Cole off Aden but escaped from prison in the Yemeni capital in 2006, along with 22 other al-Qaida militants. Earlier this month, Badawi turned himself in and, according to witnesses, was allowed to return to his home in Aden in return for a pledge not to engage in any violent or al-Qaida -related activity. The October 31 signing of a US$20.6 million aid agreement with Yemen has been "postponed until further notice", and no decision will be taken "until we can ascertain whether or not (Badawi) has been released," said a spokesman for the Millenium Challenge Account (MCA) development program. It was not clear what Sanaa's position on Badawi was, but sources close to Yemeni security services told AFP their Government had negotiated Badawi's surrender with al-Qaida militants. Yemen is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. "I can't say that we have a firm understanding of exactly what the situation is with respect to this individual," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a regular press briefing Monday. "Suffice it to say, in our view, this is somebody that needs to be behind bars," he added referring to Badawi. "He was part of - an active part of the Cole bombing plot. So he needs to be behind bars." After the USS Cole bombing that killed 17 US sailors Badawi was featured on a US list of most-wanted terrorists with a US$5 million bounty on his head. He was sentenced to death in Yemen in September 2004 for his part in the bombing, which was claimed by al-Qaida, but an appeals court later commuted the sentence to 15 years in jail. The MCA said in a statement that its director John Danilovich had canceled a trip to Anan to sign the aid agreement and was considering Yemen's current standing with the MCA. The MCA fund was created by President George W Bush in 2002. It links development aid to human rights and democratic improvements in recipient countries. A Yemeni Government spokesman in Sanaa quoted October 26 by the local Saba news agency said Badawi had been interrogated by the interior ministry, but neither confirmed or denied reports that he had been released. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 Now can we please do something similar with funds for other countries? Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian territories come to mind. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-29 21:29 |