U.S. Ships Block Yemen Coast

[Eugene]

U.S. Ships Block Yemen Coast


Thursday February 9, 2006 8:01 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House expressed "enormous concern" Thursday about the threat
posed by 23 escaped terrorists as U.S. Navy ships patrolled the coast of Yemen in a multinational
effort to recapture them.

Navy officials would not say how many or what types of ships were helping in the operation
in hopes of finding the fugitives, convicted members of al-Qaida who tunneled out of a cell
in a Yemeni prison.

The patrols began Thursday, nearly a week after the escape that included an al-Qaida operative
sentenced to death for plotting the USS Cole bombing in 2000.

The Bush administration has spoken with Yemeni officials, through the U.S. ambassador, to express
disappointment that the prisoners were housed together and that restrictions in the prison were not
more stringent.

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Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5606006,00.html