"US CENTCOM has confirmed that Jamal al-Badawi was killed in a precision strike in Marib governate, January 1," it said in a tweet. "Jamal al-Badawi was an al-Qaeda operative involved in the USS Cole bombing. US forces confirmed the results of the strike following a deliberate assessment process."
Seventeen American sailors were killed and more than 40 were injured in the October 12, 2000 attack, in which al-Qaeda suicide bombers pulled up to the refuelling destroyer in an explosives-laden boat and blasted a hole in its hull.
Navy Captain William Urban, a spokesman for US Central Command, said at the weekend that military leaders were assessing the results of the airstrike, AP reported.
Badawi was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2004, then had his sentence reduced to 15 years in prison. He made two successful jailbreaks in 2003 and 2006; after he surrendered in 2007, authorities in Yemen secretly made a deal to allow him to remain free in exchange for aiding in the search and capture of other al-Qaeda operatives.
News of the deal put a strain on relations between Yemen and the US, where Badawi had been indicted by a federal grand jury on murder and terrorism charges and the State Department had offered a US$5 million bounty for his capture.
