Fawaz al-Rabeiee

Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeiee (1979 – October 1, 2006) was a Yemeni Islamist militant who was a cell ringleader for al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQY). Rabeiee and his cell were responsible for several attacks and plots on behalf of AQY, most prominently the MV Limburg bombing.

Rabeiee was born in 1979 in Saudi Arabia to Yemeni parents. Him and his family was deported to Yemen by the Saudi government in 1990. In 2000, he travelled to Afghanistan and trained in al-Qaeda camp before returning to Yemen in late 2001. In February 2002, he was identified as the leader of an al-Qaeda cell preparing attacks against the United States. Throughout 2002, Rabeiee was responsible for planning and perpetrating several AQY attacks, including the bombing of a Civil Aviation Authority building in April, the MV Limburg bombing in October, and the attempted shootdown of a Hunt Oil helicopter in November.

Rabeiee was captured on 28 March 2003. Alongside his 14-man cell, he was convicted of several terrorist attacks by a Yemeni court and sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2004. He was later sentenced to death by an appeal court in February 2005. On 3 February 2006, Rabeiee along with 22 other al-Qaeda-linked suspects escaped from a prison in Sanaa. After his escape, he was involved in planning two AQY suicide bombings in September 2006. Rabeiee was killed by Yemeni security forces on 1 October 2006.