Clinton deplores attack on US warship

11:00 AM

WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton said the suspected suicide bombing of a U.S. warship in Yemen that killed at least five sailors appeared to be a "despicable and cowardly" terrorist act.

Clinton also appealed to Israel and the Palestinians to declare an immediate ceasefire and to resume peace talks after Israeli helicopters attacked Palestinian targets in retaliation for the killing of two Israeli soldiers on the West Bank.

Looking exhausted, Clinton said the explosion on the USS Cole destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden that killed at least five U.S. sailors on Thursday would not undermine U.S. efforts to end two weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

U.S. officials said they did not know of any link between the explosion and the Israeli-Palestinian clashes.

There has been growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the Arab world, including Yemen, over the United States' perceived support for Israel over the latest violence.

"If, as it now appears, this was an act of terrorism it was a despicable and cowardly act," Clinton told reporters in the White House Rose Garden.

"We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable."

"If their intention was to deter us from our mission of promoting peace and security in the Middle East they will fail utterly," he added.

A large explosion occurred when a small boat pulled next to the U.S. destroyer in the Yemeni port on Thursday, killing at least five sailors and injuring 36 on the warship. U.S. defence officials earlier said the small boat had rammed the USS Cole and said that it appeared to be a suicide bombing.

Twelve sailors were missing several hours after the explosion which left the ship, which was on a refueling stop, listing with a huge, blackened hole in its left side.

Clinton said he ordered U.S. naval ships in the region to pull out of port and U.S. ground forces to tighten security.

He also sent Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Department and Pentagon officials to Yemen to investigate the incident.

The explosion occurred as the United States has sought to quell two weeks of violent clashes between Israel and the Palestinians that have killed at least 97 people, all but seven of them Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.

Clinton harshly condemned the killings and called on both sides to declare a ceasefire, immediately condemn the recent violence and return to the negotiating table.

"I strongly condemn the murder of Israeli soldiers in Ramallah today. While I understand the anguish Palestinians feel over the losses they have suffered there can be no possible justification for mob violence," he said.

"Now is the time to stop the bloodshed, to restore calm, to return to dialogue and ultimately to the negotiating table," he added. "I call on both sides to undertake a ceasefire immediately and immediately to condemn all acts of violence."

Clinton cleared his schedule and spoke by telephone to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah, urging them to work to stop the violence.

The day's events rippled into the U.S. election campaign, prompting Vice President Al Gore to cut short a campaign trip and return to the White House to consult with Clinton.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, running for a U.S. Senate seat from New York, was jeered at a pro-Israel rally in Manhattan where she blamed the current violence on Arafat. One sign in the crowd read "What did Hillary ever do for Israel?'

Clinton, who sought to negotiate a final peace accord between the Israelis and Palestinians in two weeks of fruitless talks at the Camp David presidential retreat in July, said he had not given up hope despite the last two weeks' clashes.

"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the greatest tragedies and most difficult problems of our time - but it can be solved," he said.

"The progress of the last few years - progress that brought Israel to the hope of a final peace with true security and Palestinians to the hope of a sovereign state recognised by the entire world, was not made through violence," he added.

"It happened because both sides sat down together, negotiated, and slowly built up the trust that violence destroys."

- REUTERS

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