Jaber A. Elbaneh, also known as Gabr al-Bana ( ar, جبر البنا; born 9 September 1966) is a Yemeni-American who was labeled a suspected terrorist by the United States after it emerged that he had attended the
Al Farouq training camp alongside the
Lackawanna Six
The Buffalo Six (known primarily as Lackawanna Six, but also the Lackawanna Cell, or Buffalo Cell) is a group of six Yemeni-American friends who pled guilty to charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda in December 2003, based on their havin ...
, and remained on at the camp after they returned home. He fled to Yemen, where he worked as a cab driver before turning himself in to authorities.
As Yemeni officials squabbled over his $US5 million reward, he escaped in a mass breakout along with a number of other high-profile prisoners, and was added to the
FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list. When Yemen convicted him in absentia for conspiracy in a plot against oil facilities, he again turned himself in to the police, and served a 5-year sentence. He is related to Susan Elbaneh, the only American victim of a terrorist
attack against the U.S. Embassy in Yemen in September 2008.
Personal Information
Life in the United States
Born in Yemen, Elbaneh lived in the United States, where he maintained a "spotty work history", with his longest stint being at a New York cheese factory.
[Temple-Raston, Dina. ''The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in the Age of Terror'', 2007] He is married, with seven children.
Elbaneh was closely associated with the
Lackawanna Six
The Buffalo Six (known primarily as Lackawanna Six, but also the Lackawanna Cell, or Buffalo Cell) is a group of six Yemeni-American friends who pled guilty to charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda in December 2003, based on their havin ...
, a group of American friends living in the suburbs of
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
who had attended an
Afghan training camp together prior to the outbreak of the
War on Terror
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...
.
When the group went to Galyan's Sporting Goods in
Cheektowaga to outfit themselves for the trip, purchasing boots, flashlights, books, diarrhea medication and other essentials, he laughed that he would just add it all onto his credit card account, bringing his total debt to $145,000.
Elbaneh was also indicted ''
in absentia'' in a federal criminal complaint unsealed on May 21, 2003, in the
United States District Court for the Western District of New York, Buffalo, New York.
[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists wanted poster for Elbaneh](_blank)
All of them attended get-togethers at the apartment of
Kamal Derwish Kamal Derwish ( ar, كمال درويش; 1973 – November 3, 2002) was an American citizen killed by the CIA as part of a covert targeted killing mission in Yemen on November 3, 2002. The CIA used an RQ-1 Predator drone to shoot a Hellfire missile, ...
, and Elbaneh and
Yahya Goba tended to "compete" for the attention and favour of Derwish, who spoke of his travels abroad and ostensible history fighting in Palestine.
In October, FBI consultant Paul Williams wrote a book ''Dunces of Doomsday'' in which he claimed that
Adnan Shukrijumah
Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah ( ar, عدنان شكري جمعة, ''ʿAdnān Shukrī Jumaʿah'') (4 August 1975 – 6 December 2014) was a citizen of Saudi Arabia and a senior member of Al-Qaeda. He was born in Saudi Arabia and grew up in the U ...
,
Amer el-Maati
Amro Badr Eldin Abou el-Maati (born May 25, 1963 in Kuwait; also known as Amer el-Maati) is a Kuwaiti-Canadian alleged member of al-Qaeda. He is wanted for questioning by the FBI for having attended flight school and having discussed hijacking ...
, Elbaneh and
Anas al-Liby
Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i, ar, نزيه عبد الحميد نبيه الرقيعي Libyan pronunciation: known by the alias Abu Anas al-Libi ( ; ar, ابو أنس الليبي Libyan pronunciation: ; 30 March 1964; or 14 ...
had all been seen around
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
the previous year, and that Shukrijumah had been seen at
McMaster University where he "wasted no time in gaining access to the
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the creation of radiological bombs". He was subsequently sued by the University for
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
, as there had been no evidence to suggest any part of his story was true. The publisher later apologised for allowing Williams to print statements which "were without basis in fact".
[Pither, Kerry. "Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror", 2008.][el-Maati, Ahmed Barbara Jackman]
Chronology of events
/ref>
By June 2003, Elbaneh had been added to the FBI Seeking Information - Terrorism list
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
.
Arrest and escape
Elbaneh worked as a cabbie in San'a for months, before turning himself in to Yemeni authorities. He was sent to a maximum-security prison run by the Political Security Office, while authorities argued with the United States over the substantial $5 million reward, and who should receive it. Some suggested that if they refused to turn Elbaneh over immediately, the United States might increase the reward.
Elbaneh was named as one of 23 people who escaped from a Yemeni prison on 3 February 2006.[Hunt on for Yemeni jailbreakers](_blank)
, ''BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
'', February 4, 2006 Prisoners had banned guards from entering the prison basement, as they dug a 143' tunnel using a broomstick and a sharpened spoon, which exited in the women's washroom of a nearby mosque. They had masked the sounds of their escape by playing football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
to distract guards.
The FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
confirmed the escape on 23 February as they issued a national press release naming Elbaneh as one of the first new additions, since inception in 2001, to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list.[RECENT ESCAPEES FROM YEMEN PRISON ADDED TO MOST WANTED TERRORISTS AND SEEKING INFORMATION - WAR ON TERRORISM LISTS](_blank)
,''FBI national Press Release'', February 23, 2006["FBI Most Wanted terror suspect jailed in Yemen", Ahmed al-Haj, Associated Press, May 19, 2008] They also stated that they believed the escaped prisoners, which included Jamal al-Badawi
Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Ali Al Badawi aka Jamal Abu Abed Al Rahman Al Badawi ( ar, جمال أحمد محمد علي البدوي) (born: 22 July 1960; or 23 October 1960; or 1963 – 1 January 2019) was a Yemeni who was indicted as an accomplice ...
who had a previous successful escape from custody, had likely received help from female sympathisers attending the mosque, who may have helped digging the tunnel from their end.
He is now listed on U.S. Rewards for Justice Program with a $US5 million bounty for his capture.
2007 conviction
In 2007, a Yemeni court convicted Elbaneh ''in absentia'' for the 2002 oil facilities plot and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. In December 2007, Elbaneh surrendered himself, but he was not returned to prison. Reported on 19 May 2008, Elbaneh was jailed in Yemen after an appeals court upheld his 10-year prison sentence.
In November 2008, Yemen's appeal court reduced Elbaneh's sentence from 10 years to 5 because he surrendered to authorities.
See also
* Detroit Sleeper Cell The Detroit Sleeper Cell is a group of men of Middle-Eastern descent who the United States Department of Justice believed were plotting an attack on Disneyland.
Trial
While on a trip to Disneyland, the four men recorded a home video. The Justice D ...
* Buffalo Six
The Buffalo Six (known primarily as Lackawanna Six, but also the Lackawanna Cell, or Buffalo Cell) is a group of six Yemeni-American friends who pled guilty to charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda in December 2003, based on their havin ...
References
External links
'Lackawanna Six' Plead Not Guilty
'' CBS'', October 22, 2002
Final 'Buffalo Six' Member Pleads Guilty
''Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
'', May 19, 2003
Buffalo terror suspect admits al Qaeda training
''CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
'', May 20, 2003
Terror-Cell Bail Hearing Continues
''Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
'', May 20, 2003
Frontline: Chasing the Sleeper Cell
''PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
''
An interview with Sahim Alwan
''PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
'', July 24, 2003
Profiles of members
''PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
'', October 16, 2003
2nd member sentenced
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbaneh, Jaber
1966 births
American escapees
American people imprisoned abroad
American al-Qaeda members
American people of Yemeni descent
Buffalo Six
Escapees from Yemeni detention
FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
Living people
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
Yemeni escapees
Yemeni emigrants to the United States