Andrew Zajac
We don’t get one of these very often: A press release from the Yemeni Embassy.
This one, marked ‘urgent’, advised that contrary to earlier reports Jamal al-Badawi, one of the purported masterminds of the bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors in 2000, was not free and is, in fact, in Yemeni custody.
Quoting the Ministry of Interior, the release states the “Jamal al-Badawi is in our custody and remains detained undergoing further investigations concerning his escape from prison last year.”
The release doesn’t say exactly where or under what conditions al-Badawi is being held.
It goes on to list the ways Yemen cooperates with the U.S. in anti-terror efforts.
Read the entire release here: Download file
The backstory: What the release doesn’t say is the following the initial reports of al-Badawi’s release, the U.S. undertook a review of aid received by Yemen with an eye to cutting some of it. No word yet on the progress of that review.