The man charged with plotting the USS Cole bombing that killed 17 sailors in a Yemeni port in 2000 was among the inmates who escaped from a prison last week, Interpol said Sunday.

The international police agency issued an "urgent global security alert" for the 23 who escaped Friday from the Yemeni prison via a 140-metre long tunnel dug by prisoners and co-conspirators outside.

Yemeni officials have confirmed to Interpol that the man considered the mastermind of the Cole attack, identified as Jamal al-Badawi, fled the prison.

Al-Badawi was among those sentenced to death in September, 2004, for plotting the attack. Following an appeal, the sentence was reduced to fifteen years.

On Oct. 12, 2000, an explosives-laden boat was rammed into the side of the guided missile destroyer as it refuelled in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors and injuring more than 40.

Another of the 23 escapees was identified as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeiee, considered by Interpol to be among those responsible for attacking the French tanker Limburg in 2002.

That attack killed a Bulgarian crewmember and spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.

At least 13 of the escapees are convicted al Qaeda terrorists, Interpol said in a statement Sunday.

"Al Qaeda terrorists have been deemed a serious threat to the entire world community by the UN Security Council, by Interpol and by a wide range of countries," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in a written statement.

"Their escape cannot be considered an internal problem for Yemen alone. Unless Interpol Red Notices are issued urgently for these fugitives and unless the world community commits itself to tracking them down, they will be able to travel internationally, to elude detection and to engage in future terrorist activity."

Noble is urging Yemeni authorities to turn over the names, photographs, fingerprints and other such details of the escapees to Interpol so that the organization can issue International Wanted Persons Notices.

These notices can only be issued by Interpol at the request of member countries, and if they are supported by national arrest warrants.