Jaber A. Elbaneh

Yemeni American terrorist

Jaber A. Elbaneh, also known as Gabr al Bana (جبر البنا; born September 9, 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, 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 $5 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.

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. He is married, with seven children. 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. All of them attended get togethers at the apartment of Kamal Derwish, 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. By June 2003, Elbaneh had been added to the FBI Seeking Information Terrorism list.

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. 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 soccer to distract guards. They also stated that they believed the escaped prisoners, which included Jamal al Badawi 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.

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 May 19, 2008, Elbaneh was jailed in Yemen after an appeals court upheld his 10 year prison sentence.