Biography: Jamal Mohammad Al-Badawi is wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen.
On October 12, 2000 the US Navy destroyer USS Cole was in the Yemeni port of Aden for refueling when a small boat that was helping the destroyer to moor exploded. The explosion created a 20 foot by 40 foot hole in the side of the ship. Seventeen US Naval personnel were killed and thirty-nine wounded in the attack.
Investigations suggested that members of al-Qaeda, lead by Osama Bin Laden, were behind the attack. Six Yemeni suspects were eventually identified, the most senior of which was Jamal al-Badawi who told investigators that he received a call from a man in the United Arab Emirates giving him instructions for the bombing. Al-Badawi identified the man as Mohammed Omar al-Harazi. Other suspects were identified as two police officials, Walid al-Sosurouri and Fatha Abdul Rahman, who gave fake identification to the bombers. Yasser al-Azzani was also jailed and Jamal Ba Khorsh was recruited to video the attack, but did not. The final suspect arrested was Ahmad al-Shinni. The mastermind behind the attacks, Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, was arrested in Yemen after police surrounded his home in November 2003. Another suspect, Rahim al-Nashiri, was also arrested in 2002 and held in US custody.
The trial of Al-Badawi and the other bombers began on July 7, 2004. Al-Badawi was indicted for murder and conspiracy to murder United States nationals and United States military personnel; conspiracy to use and using weapon of mass destruction; damaging and destroying government properties and defense facilities; and providing material support to terrorist organization. The indictment also charged Jamal al-Badawi and Fahd Mohammed Ahmed Al-Quso with a failed attempt to bomb the USS The Sullivans ten months before the USS Cole attack.
On September 29, 2004, a judge sentenced al-Badawi and al-Nashiri to death for the attack, while the other men received jail terms. All the defendants appealed their sentences. Following an appeal, the death sentence delivered against Abd-al-Rahim al-Nashirir was upheld, but the death sentence of Jamal al-Badawi was changed to fifteen years in prison. In April of 2003, al-Badawi escaped from prison and his whereabouts are currently unknown. At the time, Yemeni authorities believed Al-Badawi and Al-Quso may have traveled to al-Qaeda strongholds in the northern provinces of the country or to the port of Al-Hudavdah on the Red Sea. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
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