Hezam Mujali also had been sentenced to death in August 2004 for killing an army officer and he was charged with attacking a helicopter from the Texas-based Hunt oil company in November 2002.

Among 23 detainees that escaped prison in 2006, Mujali survived a December 2009 raid on an al Qaeda hideout in the district of Arhab in Yemen.

The announcement of Mujali's surrender comes as Yemeni authorities stepped up their battle against al Qaeda fighters, a struggle that has left dozens of security officers dead, said Mohammed Albasha, embassy spokesman.

The embassy also announced the surrendering earlier this month of another operative - Jomaan Safian, who harbored dozens of foreign al Qaeda fighters and supplied logistical help to the militants.