More Arrests In Ship Attack
Three more men have been arrested in connection with the deadly attack on the USS Cole, an Aden security official said Friday.
The arrests, reported in Thursday's edition of the newspaper published by the armed forces, bring to 31 the number of people detained in connection with the Oct. 12 bombing attack. Seventeen American sailors were killed and 39 others wounded.
One man was arrested in the northern town of Saadah, and two others were arrested in the Yemeni capital, San'a, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. All three were arrested last week.
Security officials said Thursday that four Yemeni investigators have returned from the United States, completing another step in the pretrial inquiry into the bombing. The investigators, who left in early April, flew home Tuesday, the officials said.
The paper said Yemeni investigators were briefed by U.S. officials, met with American officials and Cole crew members and reviewed medical reports on the bombing victims.
The security officials also said three anti-terrorism officers who had visited several other countries in connection with the bombing, including Pakistan, returned to Yemen last week.
In the past month, at least 20 other people have been arrested in the southern port city of Aden. The Cole was at Aden's port on Oct. 12 when a bombing attack killed 17 U.S. sailors and wounded 39 others.
Eight other men arrested late last year are awaiting trial in Yemen for their suspected role in the attack on the U.S. destroyer.
The bombing occurred as the Cole was preparing to refuel in Aden. Witnesses say a small boat drew alongside the craft and detonated an explosive device. The blast tore a gaping hole in the side of the ship.
Coming amid escalating violence in the Mideast, the bombing led to increased security at U.S. government installations worldwide. In the months since, federal agents have cooperated in the Yemeni investigation, and Pentagon panels have probed the performance of the Cole's captain and naval security in general.
The United States has suggested a link between terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and the bombing.
Bin Laden has been indicted by the United States for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Days after the bombings, the United States fired dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles at presumed bin Laden camps in eastern Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have refused to surrender bin Laden to the United States, despite U.N. sanctions imposed last month. The Taliban say Washington has not provided proof of his guilt and that it is against Afghan tradition to hand over a guest to his enemies.
Meanwhile, a Yemeni security official said on Saturday that a team of U.S. experts is helpinYemen upgrade security at its airports, nearly four months after an airplane carrying the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa was hijacked.
A Yemeni national was sentenced to 15 years in jail in February for trying to hijack a Yemen Airlines aircraft to Baghdad in January.
U.S. Ambassador Barbara Bodine was among the passengers. The plane eventually landed in Djibouti after the crew overpowered the hijacker.
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