USS Cole Mastermind Back in Prison; Or Never Was Released; Or Something Like That

"Mastermind of USS Cole attack still in detention, 2 Yemeni government Web sites say" is how the International Herald Tribune headline reads.

So far, the Yemeni vote on whether or not Jamal al-Badawi was released from prison is two "no," and one abstention. SABA, Yemen's official news agency, didn't run the denial published by Yemen's Defense Ministry weekly newspaper (on September 26??), or the National Congress Party. The latter is the outfit that runs Yemen these days.

I've no idea who is more nearly truthful here.

My biased guess is that al-Badawi was released quietly, in the manner of Arafat's enlightened policy of publicly arresting terrorists, then privately releasing them. Such a policy, if carefully managed, is good for public relations without actually impeding terrorists' operations.

I suspect that the rulers of Yemen had no clue that infidels would ever hear of al-Badawi's release: or that they didn't realize that, even seven years after the Cole, some Americans still give a rip about who killed some of us.

More at

• "Jamal al-Badawi: Al Qaeda Leader,Cole Conspirator, and Free Man" (October 27, 2007)
• "Jamal Badawi Blew Up USS Cole, Yemen Released Him" (October 26, 2007)

Jamal al-Badawi: Al Qaeda Leader, Cole Conspirator, and Free Man

Jamal al-Badawi is in the news now.

He's the Al Qaeda leader I wrote about yesterday in "Jamal Badawi Blew Up USS Cole, Yemen Released Him."

Al-Badawi has been convicted of helping plan the attack on the USS Cole, seven years ago. News programs announced his release earlier today. Now, at least one news outlet has published an AP story, "Yemen Frees Al Qaeda Mastermind of USS Cole Bombing." That article fills in a few more details:

• October 2000: Attack on USS Cole kills 17 American sailors
• April 2003: Jamal al-Badawi and nine other people suspected of involvement in the Cole attack
• 2004: Jamal al-Badawi escapes, this time with 22 others, mostly Al Qaeda fighters
• July 2007: eight Spanish tourists, visiting an ancient Yemeni temple, killed in a suicide attack - After this, President Saleh has said that his government and Al Qaeda have a truce
• October 11, 2007: Jamal al-Badawi turns himself in, swears loyalty to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, is released, and Yemeni police are ordered to "stop all previous orders concerning measures adopted against al-Badawi."
• October 27, 2007: Jamal al-Badawi receives well-wishers at his home

That last point isn't certain, but in case anyone's in the neighborhood and wants to say 'hi' to a terrorist, al-Badawi's home is in the al-Buraika district in Aden.

Yemen's being the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden may or may not have anything to do with al-Badawi's release.

Acceptance of the many ways that cultures have of running themselves is a good idea. However, in this case I think the release of al-Badawi smells of good old-fashioned graft: which has its own rules, like 'an honest politician is one who, when bought, stays bought.'