By Associated Press
Buffalo, NY – A former Lackawanna resident has been placed on the FBI's list of 26 "most wanted" terrorist suspects.
Jaber A. Elbaneh, 39, is accused of training with the "Lackawanna Six" in 2001. He was among a group of 23 suspected terrorists who tunneled out of a prison in Yemen Feb. 3. He still has relatives in Lackawanna.
"He's an individual who has not only associated with al-Qaida, but has taken part in a prison breakout with al-Qaida," Buffalo FBI spokesman Paul Moskal said. The most wanted list is headed by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
The U.S. State Department issued a reward of up to $5 million for Elbaneh's capture in September 2003. Federal agents believe Elbaneh had been in the custody of Yemen officials for more than two years.
Elbaneh left the United States in the spring of 2001 as part of a larger group recruited from the city of Lackawanna, near Buffalo, to bin Laden's al-Farooq training camp in Afghanistan.
Six of his traveling companions _ dubbed the "Lackawanna Six" _ returned to the United States and were arrested in September 2002. All are serving sentences ranging from seven to 10 years after pleading guilty in 2003 to providing support to a terrorist organization.
Elbaneh never returned to the United States, authorities said, traveling instead to his native Yemen to live. His wife and children followed in 2001.