Interpol has issued an urgent global security alert, known as an Orange Notice, following the escape from a Yemeni prison of 23 dangerous individuals, including at least 13 convicted Al Qaeda terrorists.
Some were involved in attacks on US and French ships in 2000 and 2002.
Interpol reports that its Orange Notice is ordinarily used to warn police in member countries of mail bombs or disguised weapons or criminal modus operandi. However, Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble ordered an Orange Notice to be issued after the Yemeni jail break because the escape and unknown whereabouts of Al Qaeda terrorists constituted a clear and present danger to all countries.
Noble has urged Yemen to provide Interpol with all the names, photographs, fingerprints and other details of the escaped prisoners so that Interpol’s International Wanted Persons Notices, or Red Notices, can be issued for each of them.
Red Notices can only be issued by Interpol at the request of member countries and only if they are supported by underlying national arrest warrants.
What they say
"Al Qaeda terrorists have been deemed a serious threat to the entire world community by the UN Security Council, by Interpol and by a wide range of countries," Mr Noble said. "Their escape cannot be considered an internal problem for Yemen alone. Unless Interpol Red Notices are issued urgently for these fugitives and unless the world community commits itself to tracking them down, they will be able to travel internationally, to elude detection and to engage in future terrorist activity."
He also called on Interpol member countries to take all relevant precautionary measures both at and inside their borders and to provide Yemen with all required support to locate and eventually apprehend the escaped Al Qaeda terrorists. The escape involved a 140-metre long tunnel dug by the prisoners and co-conspirators outside.
Interpol adds that Yemeni officials have confirmed that that the escapees included Jamal Ahmed Badawi, mastermind of the bomb attack on the navy ship USS Cole in 2000, and Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, one of those responsible for attacking the French tanker Limburg in 2002.
