If I didnt read this on CNN.com I would think it was a plot for a new season of 24. This seriously cannot be good...

USS Cole plotter escapes prison

Sunday, February 5, 2006; Posted: 12:48 p.m. EST (17:48 GMT)


Among the escapees was Jamal Ahmed Badawi, considered the mastermind of the USS Cole attack.

(CNN) -- Interpol has issued "an urgent global security alert" after 23 "dangerous individuals" -- including a man identified as the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 -- escaped from a Yemeni prison.

The international crime-fighting organization said Sunday at least 13 of the 23 who escaped Friday were "convicted al Qaeda terrorists, some of whom were involved in attacks on U.S. and French ships in 2000 and 2002."

"Al Qaeda terrorists have been deemed a serious threat to the entire world community by the U.N. Security Council, by Interpol and by a wide range of countries," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in the statement.

They escaped via a 140-meter (150-yard) -long tunnel "dug by the prisoners and co-conspirators outside," Interpol said.

"Their escape cannot be considered an internal problem for Yemen alone."

Among the escapees was Jamal Ahmed Badawi, considered the mastermind behind the attack on the USS Cole on October 12, 2000.

Badawi was sentenced to death in September 2004 for plotting the attack. Two suicide bombers blew up an explosives-laden boat next to the destroyer while the destroyer was in the Aden, Yemen, harbor for a routine fuel stop.

The attack killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others.

The FBI released a statement saying that information about the escape was "currently coming in through government channels."

"We are closely monitoring the situation at this time and we will work with our domestic and international partners to actively pursue these dangerous terrorists through the means we have available," the statement said.

Also among the escapees was Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, one of those responsible for attacking the French tanker Limburg in 2002

Pffft! Anyone can escape from a YEMENI prison!

i don't understand how you can dig a tunnel that long without being noticed. wouldn't someone notice a growing pile of dirt, extra filthy prisoners, and strangers digging around the outside of the prison?

Haven't you seen The Shawshank Redemption? One pantleg-full at a time.

i didn't like that movie, so consequently, i might not have paid perfect attention. and besides, that doesn't answer the question of how the people digging from the outside weren't noticed.

Its Yemen, they have much bigger issues to deal with than people digging outside the prison.

They used a similar pant-intensive process.

I can't believe someone broke out of prison by watching the Shawshank Redemption.

I told you Tim Robbins was an Al Qaeda sympathizer . . .

ever seen the great escape? those guys will show you how to dig tunnels. with a classy soundtrack to boot