US gives Yemen hard word on finding bombers

ADEN - The United States expects Yemen's full cooperation to find those responsible for an apparent terrorist bombing that crippled a US warship in Aden, says Defence Secretary William Cohen.

The cabinet member, in the Brazilian city of Manaus for a meeting of defence ministers, said the Government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was cooperating so far in the probe into last week's attack on the destroyer Cole in Aden Harbour that killed 17 US sailors.

But he left no doubt that Washington wanted continued and complete help from a state still emerging from close ties with the former Soviet Union and Iraq, and a reputation for harbouring anti-Western Islamic guerrilla groups.

"We expect them to fully cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and others who are now trying to track down the individuals - who they are associated with [and] breaches in the security in terms of what was set up, what was required, what was not followed," Cohen said.

Initially, Saleh said the explosion was not a deliberate act, but he has since told General Tommy Franks, commander-in-chief of US Central Command, that "preliminary results and important evidence reached by security forces in Yemen ... indicate that it was a planned criminal act."

The blast occurred on board an explosive-laden small boat that was right next to the warship as it was being secured to a fuelling depot in the harbour.

US investigators are trying to work out why security for that refuelling broke down.

At least two Muslim groups have claimed responsibility for the blast. But Cohen said that the FBI and Navy investigators sent to probe the massive blast had not yet determined the exact amount of explosive used and did not have a firm lead on those responsible.

Some US experts have estimated that the small boat could have been carrying up to 225kg of high explosive.

"We are still continuing to look at all of the groups," Cohen said of a number of terrorist organisations with ties in Yemen and the Middle East. He said that exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden was among the suspects.

"A number have claimed responsibility and we are trying to evaluate their association, their capability and the opportunity to carry out an operation of this magnitude."

Asked if the US might launch a strike if another country was found to be behind the attack, he said: "We will take appropriate action when we determine who was responsible for it. I will just leave it at that."

Defence officials said at the weekend that the US had received intelligence information that a terrorist attack might be planned against an American ship.

But Cohen stressed that there had been no specific details or threat against the Cole.

"There are always warnings that we receive every day around the globe," he said. "We try to analyse those as they come in for their credibility and specificity. All I can tell you is there was no indication that we had [information of] a specific plan against a ship."

Cohen said the Cole had been stabilised after suffering additional flooding problems at the weekend.

The crew of the ship, as well as US specialists flown to the scene, have worked around the clock to clean up tangled debris and pump water out of some flooded compartments, preparing the ship to be moved to an area where it can be repaired.

Cohen said a three-ship US Marine Corps amphibious ready group, headed by the helicopter assault ship Tarawa, was now in waters near Aden to provide berthing capability for dozens of US military and civilian investigators.

Cohen and other officials plan to attend a memorial service in Norfolk, Virginia, tomorrow for the 17 dead and missing crew members.

- REUTERS

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