Sana'a, Yemen  - A Yemeni state security court of appeals on Saturday halved the 10-year jail term of a US citizen of Yemeni origin wanted by the US Federal Bureau for Investigation (FBI) on terrorism charges.

Jaber al-Banna, also known as Jaber Elbaneh, is on the FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorists" list with a reward of 5 million dollars for information leading to his arrest.

He was convicted in absentia by a first instance state security court in Sana'a in November 2007 for plotting terror attacks, including two car bombs on oil facilities in eastern Yemen in 2006.

The appeal court's presiding judge Muhammad al-Hakimi said the court reduced al-Banna's term because "he resorted to the law by handing himself to authorities."

Thirty-two other men were convicted in the case.

The other convicts included the al-Qaeda leader in Yemen Nasser al-Wuhaishi, and al-Qaeda's second-in-command Qassim al-Raimi, who received 15-year jail terms each, for planning two car bomb attacks on two oil facilities in the south-eastern province of Hadhramout and the central province of Marib in September 2006.

The appeal court upheld the sentences against the two men.

Al-Banna, 41, has been on the run until he appeared at the appeal court last February to tell judges that his conviction was "unfair" and said he had not plotted any attacks in Yemen or the US.

Al-Banna, who holds Yemeni and US nationalities, was identified by the FBI in 2003 as a member of a terrorist cell in Lackawanna, New York.

Six of al-Banna's alleged counterparts in the Lackawanna case pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges in 2003 and are serving jail sentences ranging from seven to 10 years in a US prison.

Unlike other members of the alleged cell, al-Banna did not return to the US after going to Afghanistan. He was indicted in absentia in New York in 2003 on charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization.

In January 2004, under US pressure, Yemeni authorities arrested him. In February 2006, he escaped from a high-security prison in Sana'a along with 22 other al-Qaeda suspects.

He resurfaced in February 2008, when he walked unannounced into the courtroom of the appeal court in Sana'a, escorted by two bodyguards to appeal against a 10-year absentia jail sentence. He left the court after the court hearing.

The man attended five court hearings without being arrested, prompting US officials to object the Yemeni government's leniency with him and renew demands for his extradition to face trial in the United States. In May, the appeal court ordered him be rearrested. (dpa)