Yemen can’t hand over Cole suspect - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Yemen can’t hand over Cole suspect

SAN’A, Yemen — Yemen’s constitution bars the country from handing over two al-Qaida suspects convicted here but wanted by the U.S., Yemen’s foreign minister said Monday, adding that the dispute has strained relations between the two nations.

Abu-Bakr al-Qirbi told The Associated Press that the issue of the two suspects was “behind the crisis in Yemen-U.S. relations” but that he hopes they can “return to their normal course.”

The two suspects are Jaber Elbaneh, a Yemeni-American who has been convicted of planning attacks on oil installations in Yemen, and Jamal al-Badawi, convicted of masterminding the 2000 al-Qaida bombing of destroyer Cole bombing that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Washington has indicted al-Badawi and wants to try him for the Cole bombing in the U.S. but it is seeking Elbaneh’s extradition on different charges.

Washington has offered a $5 million reward for Elbaneh, who has been indicted in the U.S. for conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.

Al-Qirbi said Yemen has told the U.S. it would try Elbaneh if Washington supplied evidence of his alleged crime.

Al-Qirbi said he canceled a recently planned visit to the U.S. because he feared it would focus on the suspects’ case rather than other pressing issues, such as economy and development.

He denied U.S. accusations that Yemen has been lenient with the suspects after a court here commuted al-Badawi’s death sentence to 15 years in prison.

“There is no country which endangers its own security situation by appeasing terrorism,” al-Qirbi said. “But there are certain factors that make some countries choose different means to fight terrorism because of those country’s tribal and social structure.”

Elbaneh is currently appealing his 10-year sentence. The U.S. was angered when Yemen initially set him free during the appeals process. A court returned him to a maximum security prison in May.

The United States also was flustered by the commutation of al-Badawi’s death sentence, which followed media claims that he was granted his freedom after allegedly pledging loyalty to Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh. San’a officials later said al-Badawi remains in custody.

But after the incident, Washington last year froze U.S. aid to Yemen through the Millennium Challenge Corp., a U.S. agency that distributes foreign aid based on countries’ efforts at good governance. Al-Qiribi criticized that decision Monday.

“There is an economic problem (in Yemen) which needs to be solved and ignoring it will increase the chances of terrorists to recruit young people who are affected by this economic situation,” al-Qirbi said.

Yemen is Osama bin Laden’s ancestral homeland and has an active al-Qaida presence despite government efforts to destroy the network. The country considers itself a strong partner with the United States in the fight against terrorism, and U.S. officials say Yemeni intelligence services have been helpful since the Cole attack.

At the same time, U.S. officials grumble about what they call a history of lax detention policies. In 2004, al-Badawi escaped from prison but later turned himself in.