![]() | This article's lead section contains information that is not included elsewhere in the article. (August 2022) |
Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Ali Al Badawi | |
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![]() Jamal al-Badawi | |
Born | Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Ali Al Badawi 1960 or 1963 |
Died | 1 January 2019 (aged 55 or 58) Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen |
Nationality | Yemeni |
Other names | Jamal Muhsin al-Tali, Abu Abdul Rahman al-Badawi, Abu Abdul Rahman al-Adani, Jamal Mohammad Ahmad Ali al-Badawi, Jamal Mohammad Ahmad |
Military career | |
Allegiance | ![]()
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Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Ali Al Badawi aka Jamal Abu Abed Al Rahman Al Badawi (Arabic: جمال أحمد محمد علي البدوي) (1960 or 1963 – 1 January 2019) was a Yemeni who was indicted as an accomplice for his role in the 2000 USS Cole bombing off the coast of Aden, Yemen, which killed 17 American sailors on 12 October 2000.[1][2] He was captured in Yemen and sentenced to death on 29 September 2004. Al-Badawi was also indicted on 15 May 2003, by the United States for the USS Cole bombing and the attempted attack on USS The Sullivans. He is thought to have travelled to Saudi Arabia and purchased a small boat and then a truck and trailer to transport it. This boat sank from the weight of the explosives while preparing the USS The Sullivans plot. Al-Badawi is also thought to have leased the safehouses used in these endeavors. Fox News called Al-Badawi a "mastermind" of the Cole bombing.[3]
Only two of the six charged by Yemen in the attack were sentenced to death; the other four were sentenced to 5–10 years imprisonment. After hearing his sentence, Al-Badawi declared "This is an unjust verdict, this is an American verdict. There are no human rights in the world, except for the Americans. All the Muslims in the world are being used to serve American interests." His family announced they would appeal. Because he was being held by U.S. forces, the other defendant sentenced to death, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was tried and sentenced in absentia.
Al-Badawi twice escaped from Yemeni prison, once after his death sentence was issued, and was being sought as an FBI Most Wanted Terrorist fugitive. He was killed by an American drone strike by a kinetic Hellfire variant with pop-up blades on 1 January 2019, that was conducted in Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen.[4][5][6]
Yemeni officials said Jamal al-Badawi – a man convicted of plotting, preparing and helping carry out the Cole bombing – was among the fugitives, Interpol said. Al-Badawi was among those sentenced to death in September 2004 for plotting the attack, in which two suicide bombers blew up an explosives-laden boat next to the destroyer as it refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000.