Cole Probe Faults Ship's Security

A Navy investigation has determined that the U.S. destroyer Cole did not fully implement a port security plan prepared by the captain before it was heavily damaged by an apparent suicide bombing in Yemen, defense officials said Friday.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, declined to provide details, telling Reuters that findings by investigators in the Oct. 12 blast which killed 17 U.S. sailors were only preliminary and the probe was not complete.

The investigation has been completed at the U.S. Fifth Fleet level in the Gulf and is being reviewed by senior Navy officials in Norfolk, Virginia, one defense official said.

The warship was badly damaged by a blast from an explosives-laden small boat, which drew right next to the Cole as it took on fuel in Yemen's Aden harbor while en route to duty in the Gulf.

Officials said earlier that guards on the deck of the Cole were carrying weapons without bullets.

The defense officials responded to questions after CNN reported that a preliminary determination had been reached that the ship did not completely follow a security plan outlined by Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, the Cole's captain, before it entered port.

There was no indication whether Lippold or other members of the ship's crew might face responsibility or punishment for failure to keep the small boat away or to take any other action which might have prevented the attack, officials said.

At the time of the blast, the Cole was in what is known as "Threat Condition Bravo," which requires guards on deck to keep small boats away and mount a close watch for possible attacks during a refueling operation. But there was no indication where security for the ship might have broken down.

The Navy investigation is not designed to find out who set off the bomb, but to determine whether all precautions were taken before the attack and if any changes should be made.

The Defense Department has launched another investigation to determine if procedures by ships and other U.S. forces in transit around the world should be changed for safety.

Meanwhile, Yemen and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are conducting an intense investigation into the blast, which has resulted in the arrests of several suspects in Yemen.

Up to six suspects — all Yemeni — are to be tried next month in the attack, according to Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Iryani.

Al-Iryani told The Associated Press that the suspects were all "culprits in preparing for the attack on the Cole," but he said he had no details on their exact roles or the charges they would face.

Sources close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said charges would include carrying out the attack, threatening state security, forming an armed gang and possessing explosives. The suspects could be executed if convicted of threatening state security or carrying out the bombings; the other charges carry a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
"They were culprits, no question about it," al-Iryani said of the suspects to be charged. "The degree of information that each one may know could be different."

But responsibility for the attack still has not been officially determined, although Yemeni and U.S. officials have said in published reports that some of those arrested may be linked to Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, accused by the United States of masterminding the 1998 attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa.

Bin Laden, who reportedly lives in Afghanistan, has denied involvement.