The 41-year-old Jaber Elbaneh attended a session of the trial for him and 22 other Al Qaeda members charged for a series attacks on oil facilities, an eyewitness said speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

Footage of the suspect entering and leaving the court unimpeded also appeared on the Dubai-based pan-Arab satellite channel, al-Arabiya.

“He entered the courtroom surrounded by four bodyguards, introduced himself to the judge then he left,” the eyewitness said about Elbaneh who is believed to be living with his family in the province of al-Dalai, some 220 kilometers south of San’a, despite being on trial.

According to the FBI Web site, the State Department is offering up to US$5 million for information leading to his arrest.

Elbaneh was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in November in a lower court on charges of masterminding two attacks in the eastern Marid and Hadramawt provinces in Sept. 2006.

He surrendered in May to Yemen authorities but was then never sent back to jail despite the ongoing trial.

Security authorities have declined to comment about Elbaneh legal situation.

In May 2003, U.S. prosecutors charged Elbaneh in absentia with conspiring with a group, known as the “Lackawanna Six” after their New York state hometown, to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.

The U.S. then asked Yemen to hand over Elbaneh and while he was subsequently arrested by authorities in January 2004, he was never extradited.

Elbaneh is a former resident of Lackawanna, N.Y. He left the United States in spring 2001 as part of a larger group that traveled to Usama bin Laden’s al-Farooq training camp in Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda has an active presence in Yemen despite government efforts to destroy the network. The group was blamed for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole destroyer in Aden that killed 17 American sailors and the attack on a French oil tanker, the Limburg, that killed one person two years later.

Advertisement: WordPress For Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson

The annual State of the Black Union forum boasts a number of famous names as it gets under way in New Orleans, but this year’s event is getting much more attention for who won’t be there…..

…..”I think it’s a missed opportunity on Mr. Obama’s part,” Smiley told CNN. “Now, I am not interested in demonizing him for his choice, but I do disagree with it.”

But Smiley’s criticism has also prompted many people to come to Obama’s defense. The talk show host told The Washington Post he has been inundated with angry e-mails and even death threats.

“I have family in Indianapolis. They are harassing my momma, harassing my brother. It’s getting to be crazy,” Smiley told the newspaper.

He will be busy despite Obama’s absence. Some of the nation’s top black activists and politicians attend the State of the Black Union.

Smiley said he picked New Orleans as the 2008 host city to highlight the continued plight of its residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“We owe it to them, those who survived, those who are still struggling to rebuild their lives,” Smiley said. “We owe it to them to raise these issues louder than ever.”

New Orleans continues to battle problems, including crime and lack of affordable housing. Entire communities still lack hospitals or emergency care.

Obama campaigned in the city before he easily won Louisiana’s Democratic primary on February 9, taking 57 percent of the vote.

But at least one Louisiana lawmaker praised Clinton for being there when the region needed help.

“I don’t support people just because they are black,” said Democratic state Rep. Juan LaFonta.

“I support people because they are qualified and committed to issues that affect my constituent base.”

Smiley criticized Obama for not attending, so he is threatened and harrassed, yet blacks worry about Obama’s safety?

Captain Ed feels that all three candidates should have made the time to attend this. I see this as a snub on the part of the Obama Campaign. I see this as him saying that he is black, but let’s not involve ourselves those kind of people.. I am reminded of a fascinating book by Lawrence Otis Graham, Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class .