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Yemen prison break raises alarms at seaExperts say escapees have terrorist ties, skill in shipping attacksFrom Barbara Starr  Among the escapees was Jamal Ahmed Badawi, considered the mastermind of the USS Cole attack. SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Last week's jailbreak in Yemen of convicted terrorists, including the man considered to be the mastermind of the attack on the destroyer USS Cole, poses "a serious problem," U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday. Experts say many of the escapees have extensive and worrisome experience in carrying out attacks against shipping, prompting the U.S. Navy to advise its ships in the area, Navy officials said. Interpol, the international police organization, said Sunday that at least 13 of the 23 men who tunneled to freedom Friday were "convicted al Qaeda terrorists, some of whom were involved in attacks on U.S. and French ships in 2000 and 2002." (Read about the jailbreak) Jamal Ahmed Badawi was sentenced to death in September 2004 for orchestrating the October 2000 attack on the Cole. Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others were wounded when two suicide bombers detonated an explosives-laden boat next to the destroyer while it was docked in Aden, Yemen. At least one of the escapees, Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, was involved in a similar attack on a French oil tanker Limburg in Yemen in 2002. One member of the 25-person crew was killed. "It is a serious problem," Rumsfeld told reporters after a congressional budget hearing. "They were individuals who were deeply involved in al Qaeda activities and directly connected to the attack on the USS Cole and the death of the sailors that were on board that ship." The U.S. Embassy in Yemen has restricted all non-essential travel by U.S. government employees there. "While at this time the embassy has no specific information of threats against Americans, it recommends that Americans specifically avoid making any non-essential trips to or around Yemen, including to shopping and entertainment areas within Sanaa, for at least the next two weeks," the notice said. The United States is working closely with the Yemeni government and is sharing intelligence, embassy sources said, but there will be concerns as long as the men are at large. Interpol has issued an "international blue notice" for the escapees, clearing the way for other nations to detain the men even if there is not a formal arrest warrant. 
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