The al Qaeda prison escape in Yemen was of "enormous concern" to the United States and Saudi Arabia also faces a threat due to the jail break, a White House security official said on Thursday. U.S. Navy ships are helping patrol the international waters off the coast of Yemen to capture the escapees if they flee by sea. The Navy ships are part of Combined Task Force 150, which routinely patrols the waters in the area."I find the developments in Yemen not only deeply disappointing but of enormous concern to us, especially given the capabilities and the expertise of the people who were there," said Frances Townsend, White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser. "We are disappointed that they were all housed together. We are disappointed that their restrictions in prison weren't more stringent.".
The U.S. ambassador has spoken to officials in Yemen and asked for "the strongest and most transparent cooperation so that we can help them," Townsend told reporters. The United States also is working with Saudi Arabia, which had turned over to Yemen a number of those who have now escaped.
"Ships from CTF 150 are monitoring international waters along the coast of Yemen in an attempt to either block possible maritime escape routes or capture the suspected terrorists if they make this attempt," the Pentagon statement said. Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Manama told Reuters in Dubai: "Our intention is to deny them a maritime route." He said he could not speculate on which routes the militants might take. Analysts have said the fugitives were likely to flee Yemen to carry out attacks. One likely scenario would be for them to head to Afghanistan.