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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Whose anger?
By Nasser ArrabyeeThe USS Cole, one of the world's most sophisticated guided-missile destroyers, was struck last Thursday in the Yemeni port of Aden by a small boat packed with explosives. Seventeen Americans were instantly killed. Of the 39 others who sustained injuries, at least two were Yemenis. Another explosion occurred one day later in the grounds of the British Embassy in Sana'a. This caused material damage, but no casualties.
The destroyer had arrived in Aden with a crew of about 350 for a scheduled four-hour refuelling stop. According to US Navy officials, a small boat that was part of a group helping the destroyer to moor, had previously been laden with explosives, which were detonated when the tug was alongside the ship. The bombing coincided with the Al-Aqsa Intifada in Palestine, and the swelling anti-American anger across the Arab world.
This attack was the first targeting of the US military in Yemen since the Pentagon pulled out all 100 American military personnel based there in January 1993 following bombings outside the US Embassy and at hotels where Americans were staying. During the last decade, since the Marxist South unified with the conservative North, Yemen has been plagued by sporadic terrorist kidnappings and bombings.
Initially, a US State Department statement attacked "the lax and inefficient enforcement of security procedures" in Yemen. They pointed to the possibility of a suicide attack, and even accused Yemen of being a "safe haven for terrorists." However, the US ambassador, Barbara Bodine, later defused tension by praising Yemeni-American relations and the cooperation being offered to US officials by the Yemeni government. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday announced that preliminary investigations showed that the bombing was undoubtedly a premeditated criminal act. "The international community should join together to fight terrorism, as it threatens the stability of the world."
Bill Young, a senior lawmaker in the US House of Representatives, proposed on Monday the withholding of foreign aid to Yemen until the US is assured that the Yemeni government was fully cooperating in the investigations. Young met with President Saleh last April and agreed to provide money for Yemen in the fiscal 2001 budget. Four million dollars were intended to be used to promote democracy and education in the country.
Responding to criticism that the US had ignored recent intelligence information that a terrorist attack might be planned against an American ship, US Defence Secretary William Cohen stressed that there had been no specific threats against the Cole. He added that the destroyer followed correct refuelling procedures in place in Aden for the past 20 months and that there had been no reason to exercise caution.
More than one hundred FBI investigators have now joined a Yemeni security team. In the meantime, Yemeni authorities have rounded up dozens of people for questioning. The suspects included employees and workers in the port of Aden. At least two Islamist groups have claimed responsibility for the blast, but Cohen has stated that the US is still investigating terrorist groups known to have ties to Yemen.
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