Bounties a Bust in Hunt for Al-Qaeda

Jaber Elbaneh, a U.S.-Yemeni citizen with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, walks into court in Sanaa, Yemen, where officials have refused to arrest or extradite him. (By Craig Whitlock -- The Washington Post)

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Unlike other members of the cell, Elbaneh did not return to the United States after going to Afghanistan. He was indicted in absentia in New York in 2003 on charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization.

In January 2004, under pressure from the United States, Yemeni authorities arrested him. But two years later he escaped from a maximum security prison in Sanaa, along with 22 other inmates.

He resurfaced nearly three months ago, on Feb. 23, when he walked unannounced into a cramped Sanaa courtroom, escorted by four bodyguards.

Interrupting a trial of other al-Qaeda suspects, he told the judge his name and declared that all charges against him were bogus. "I haven't committed any crimes in this country or in the United States," he said.

He dropped another bombshell by saying he had personally surrendered to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and was under his protection. Then he walked out of the courtroom. Stunned court officials did nothing.

U.S. officials objected and renewed demands for his extradition to face trial in Buffalo. Yemen has refused, and senior officials in Sanaa have downplayed the seriousness of the U.S. charges.

Although Elbaneh faces charges in Yemen for his alleged involvement in attacks on foreign oil workers and in another plot, Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi said the case against him was weak. Alimi said that Elbaneh was cooperating in other investigations and that the government was inclined to treat him leniently.

"One of our tactics is if these terrorist suspects have no blood on their hands and if they are moving in the right direction, let's help him move in that direction," Alimi said. "Long imprisonment sometimes makes people angry and makes them vicious, so that they want revenge. That's their nature -- Yemenis are like that."

Abdel-Karim al-Iryani, a former prime minister and adviser to Saleh, confirmed that Elbaneh had surrendered to the Yemeni president in exchange for a guarantee of protection.

"It's a very traditional thing in Yemen," Iryani said. "You surrender yourself to a high-ranking official. His surrender was accepted on the basis that he would cooperate."

Meanwhile, Elbaneh is allowed to remain free as long as he promises to appear in court when summoned.

Khaled al-Anesi, a defense attorney who represented Elbaneh before his prison breakout, said the U.S. reward had caught some people's attention in Yemen. The sheer size of it, he joked, might even make his former client think twice about staying on the lam.

"Five million for a bounty is an awful lot of money," Anesi said. "If I were him, I'd say, 'I give up, but give this $5 million to my family.' "

Staff researcher Robert E. Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.