Series of EmergencyNet News "Real-Time" Reports Concerning an Explosion Aboard the U.S.S. Cole in the Port of Aden, Yemen -- 12 Oct to  20 June 2001

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Official Now Says "No Evidence" To Link Bin Laden To Cole Bombing

Petty Officer John Washak told the Post said he was manning an M-60 machine gun shortly after the Cole was hit. Washak said he waved the weapon at a second small boat that was approaching, but a senior chief petty officer ordered him to turn the gun away. Washak said he protested, fearing that the ship was still under attack. Rules of engagement aboard a U.S. warship are set by its captain following Navy "rules of engagement" guidelines. Citing an on-going investigation into the incident, Pentagon officials won't publicly discuss the specific rules in effect aboard the Cole.  

According to a 14 Nov article in the Stars and Stripes, Senior Navy officials have reacted with skepticism to an article in the Nov. 14 Washington Post article. "I have nothing to say about that story," chief Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said at a Nov. 14 briefing. "There are a number of ongoing inquiries. I don't want to speculate. We should respect the [investigative] process. We all want a complete investigation."

Petty Officer Jennifer Kudrick, a sonar technician, said: "If we had shot those people, we'd have gotten in trouble for it. That's what's frustrating about it. We would have gotten in more trouble for shooting two foreigners than losing 17 American sailors." The Post reportedly interviewed about 20 members of the ship's crew. 

10 Nov 2000 - 00:01CST 

New Revelations on Terrorism; Previous Attack On U.S. Ship Failed

Washington, DC/Aden, Yemen (EmergencyNet News) -- EmergencyNet News has learned that U.S. officials are investigating yet another possible link to Osama Bin Laden and a second plot to bomb a U.S. ship in the harbor in Aden, Yemen. According to military and intelligence officials, the current investigation of the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole has revealed an earlier plot to bomb a destroyer called "The Sullivans" at approximately the same time of Millennium celebrations throughout the world.

Apparently the first attempt on a U.S. ship failed when the small boat that the terrorist were using was found not to be seaworthy after loading it with too many explosives, an anonymous U.S. official said. The attack on "The Sullivans" was believed to be scheduled to coincide with other New Years attacks in Seattle, WA and Jordan. "In other words, if the 'bad guys' had succeeded, there would have been a series of devastating explosions directed at US. and allied targets...back to back...to back," the official told Emergencynet News. The U.S. military reportedly was not aware of the anticipated attack on "The Sullivans" at the time of plot.

As far as any direct links to Osama Bin Laden are concerned, U.S. intelligence officials continue to say that the investigation of the U.S.S. Cole bombing continues to show that Islamic militants were behind the attack, but it can not presently be shown that they are part of the Bin Laden al-Qaida organization. 

As previously reported by ERRI/EmergencyNet News: 

http://www.emergency.com/y2kpage.htm

http://www.emergency.com/1999/y2k1299.htm  

04 Nov 2000

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Bin Laden Reportedly "Delighted" By USS Cole Attack

A pan-Arab newspaper reported on Saturday that master terrorist Usama bin Laden has expressed "delight" at last month's bomb attack on a U.S. warship in Yemen that killed 17 American sailors. The al-Hayat newspaper quoted what it described as Arab sources close to the Afghanistan-based militant leader as saying: "Bin Laden knelt and thanked Allah (God) for this operation which has shaken the American military reputation. Bin Laden has expressed his happiness and delight for blowing up the destroyer."

02 Nov 2000

EGYPT:

Suez Canal Security Tightened

A senior official at the Suez Canal said on Wednesday that Egyptian authorities have increased security at the strategic waterway since the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen last month. Although no specific threats have been made against U.S. Navy vessels passing through the canal, U.S. Defense Department officials said that no U.S. warships have traveled through it since the 12 October attack. The Navy said it has been avoiding the Suez because of security concerns. U.S commercial ships and oil tankers are still using the canal.

A high-ranking official with the Suez Canal Authority refused to divulge details about what measures were being taken, but other sources who live near the canal said a road running parallel to the waterway has been closed to civilian traffic.

01 Nov 2000

PERSIAN GULF REGION

U.S. Forces On Alert In Persian Gulf

Officials said that U.S. intelligence has picked up "credible threat information" against American targets in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and U.S. military commanders have placed all U.S. forces in those Persian Gulf countries on the highest state of alert (see report below- 14:00CST - 31 Oct 2000). The heightened alert coincided with confirmation on Tuesday that since the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen on 12 October, no American warship has used the Suez Canal. The 101-mile-long waterway provides the fastest passage from the eastern United States to the gulf.

Some officials said U.S. military commanders believe it is prudent to avoid the Suez Canal for security reasons, but Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said no official decision was made to stop using the canal, which links the Mediterranean and Red seas.

Despite an appeal by POTUS for "a genuine, joint  investigation," Yemini government investigators continued to question suspects without the participation of U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents sent to the Arabian peninsula country after the explosion. Yemeni officials said transcripts of interrogations were sent to U.S. investigators, who posed questions to Yemenis, then followed up. ABC News reported on Tuesday night that U.S. officials suspect Yemeni authorities erased critical parts of a videotape taken by a harbor surveillance camera the day the Cole was attacked.

Pentagon spokesman Bacon said the roughly 5,000 U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and 5,000 in Kuwait were placed on Monday on the highest alert level, THREATCON Delta. Last week the Pentagon said American forces in Bahrain and Qatar, tiny Gulf states with friendly relations with the United States, were placed on THREATCON Delta in response to terrorist threats of unknown credibility against specific targets -- including an airfield in Bahrain used by American aircraft.

Although the Persian Gulf region generally is considered more dangerous than many other parts of the world,  security worries have escalated since the Cole bombing. American officials believe the attack was the work of terrorists, possibly with links to suspected terrorism mastermind Usama bin Laden.

31 Oct 2000 - 09:30CST

YEMEN:

Yemeni Cole Investigation Focusing On Four Suspects

Sources close to the investigation said on Tuesday that the Yemeni investigation into the bombing of the USS Cole is focusing on four men believed to be the main plotters and continuing to explore possible links to Muslim militants in Yemen. The revelations came as the United States pressed Yemen to allow U.S. law enforcement agents a greater role in the investigation into the terrorist attack on the U.S. warship refueling in Aden's harbor. The 12 October attack killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured 39 others.

Yemeni officials have insisted they are leading the probe and do not want the United States to have the kind of high-profile role it played in the investigation in Kenya and Tanzania following the 1998 bombings of its embassies there. POTUS on Monday appealed to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for direct access to witnesses, suspects and evidence, saying the two countries should have "a genuine, joint investigation" as the United States had with Kenya and Tanzania. Yemeni officials said the questioning of sources and detainees was being conducted by Yemenis with no FBI special agents present. Transcripts of the interrogations are sent to U.S. investigators who pose follow-up questions for Yemenis.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Monday that Yemen "had to cooperate more" as the United States searches for links to master terrorist Usama bin Laden, who has emerged as the prime focus of the investigation. Two men who have been detained in Lahej, an area 22 miles north of Aden that is a stronghold of veterans of the Afghan war against the Soviets, are believed to have taken part in blasts at Aden's two main hotels in December 1993.

Yemeni sources said investigators believe preparations for the Cole blast began in March. They said a man went to the naval police base around that time to register a white boat using the fake identification card issued in Lahej. When the man was asked to produce the boat for inspection, he said it was undergoing repairs and led police to a shack the suspects had used to weld linings into the boat to slip the explosives into.

Meanwhile, U.S. military vessels have not been using the Suez Canal since the attack on the Cole, but U.S. and Egyptian officials are working very closely on security arrangements for the vital waterway. U.S. military forces have been on heightened alert through-out the Middle East and other regions after the surprise attack on the Cole. U.S. ships have also been banned from putting into any port in the Gulf.

28 Oct 2000

Investigators Seek Links To Bin Laden

U.S. officials said on Friday that law enforcement and intelligence personnel investigating this month's bombing of the USS Cole are searching for links to master terrorist Usama bin Laden -- but so far have found no hard evidence. A senior U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while bin Laden is a likely suspect, but the investigation has not yet established firmly that he financed the operation or supervised it.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and FBI Director Louis Freeh appealed in a joint statement for greater cooperation from the Yemenis in the investigation, because FBI agents have encountered the same problem they had in an earlier terrorism investigation in Saudi Arabia -- no direct access to suspects.

The FBI, working with Yemeni authorities in the port of Aden, has completed examining the ship and various locations in Yemen for physical evidence. They did not identify the locations, but officials have said they include several houses thought to have been used to prepare the attack. Freeh confirmed that FBI evidence teams, laboratory examiners and bomb technicians have been returning home. Officials have said more than 20 agents remain, including investigators, security and communication specialists.

Albright and Freeh praised Yemeni cooperation during the searches, in which FBI specialists had full access to the sites and returned key evidence to Washington for detailed lab tests. But they sought more access now. FBI officials have privately complained that they have not been able to participate in Yemeni interviews with witnesses or suspects so far. Freeh visited Yemen personally to push for that access.

Force Protection Review Held

At the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are urging military commanders to use the USS Cole bombing as an impetus for strengthening anti-terrorist protection for their troops. As Cohen and General Henry H. Shelton made that plea on Thursday in a video teleconference with commanders and other top military leaders, the co-directors of a special commission investigating the Cole bombing headed to Yemen "to look for themselves" at the situation. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon declined to provide any details on the schedule of retired Admiral Harold Gehman and retired Army General William Crouch, whom Cohen appointed to find "force protection" lessons in the Cole attack.

The private Pentagon conference, which lasted a little over an hour, included the heads of the U.S. regional commands -- covering Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East -- plus the civilian service secretaries and the uniformed service chiefs and commanders of U.S.- based major commands.

27 Oct 2000

YEMEN:

Truck Bomb Threat Reportedly Led To U.S. Alert

A Yemeni official said on Thursday that security was increased around a hotel in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, where Americans investigating the bombing of the USS Cole are staying, after the United States warned of a possible truck bomb attack. He said Washington told the Americans in Aden that "they had received a threat that a big truck laden with explosives would break into the hotel."

A senior U.S. official in Aden said earlier that a "serious" threat had been received, prompting U.S. and Yemeni officials to take security measures. But the official declined to discuss the nature of the threat.

U.S. officials are said to be "reducing the footprint" of American personnel on the ground in Aden and moving essential people to ships anchored in the harbor and near the shattered hulk of the U.S. S. Cole. Other non-essential personnel are returning to the United States.

26 Oct 2000 - 09:30CDT

UNITED STATES

Pentagon CT Analyst Says He Warned Of Terrorism Threat, But Was Ignored

U.S. senators said on Wednesday that a Pentagon expert on Persian Gulf terrorism told Congress that he warned of possible terrorist attacks on U.S. forces in the region before the bombing of the USS Cole, but his superiors failed to pass the information to military commanders. The intelligence official, whose name was not disclosed, resigned in protest the day after the Cole was attack on 12 October in Yemen.

Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner of Virginia said the allegations made by the Pentagon intelligence official would be discussed in detail during a closed-door committee hearing with several Pentagon officials, including Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, for whom the analyst worked.

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that a "midlevel" DIA counterterrorism expert resigned the day after the Cole attack, but he would provide no other information about the individual or his analysis.

One senator said the resignation letter refers to an intelligence assessment in June that apparently predicted a terrorist attack in the Gulf. The senator said: "He indicates his analysis could have played a critical role in DIA's ability to predict and warn of a potential terrorist attack against U.S. interests, and goes further to say he is very troubled by the many indicators contained in the analysis that suggest two or three other major acts of terrorism could potentially occur in the coming weeks or months."

Walter Slocombe, the undersecretary of defense for policy, testified before the Armed Services Committee along with U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, commander in chief of U.S. Central Command. Slocombe said the Pentagon had no specific information about a likely terrorist attack against an American target in the Gulf prior to the Cole bombing. Slocombe told the committee: "Information of that kind, if it had existed -- which it didn't -- would have been disseminated on the most urgent basis to all the people who were potentially affected by it."

Later, in an appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, Slocombe was pressed by Representative Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania for details on threat warnings. Slocombe said the intelligence report referred to in Wednesday's Washington Times did not warn of an imminent terrorist attack on a U.S. ship and did not specifically mention Yemen. He said a separate intelligence report that cited a potential threat against U.S. or Israeli interests in Yemen was disseminated to the appropriate people 11 or 12 hours before the attack on the Cole.

Meanwhile, Yemeni authorities investigating the bombing have detained a Yemeni carpenter and a Somali woman. Yemeni sources said on Wednesday the carpenter reportedly confessed to helping two men modify a small boat to carry explosives and the woman confessed to buying the car they used to haul the boat to shore, paying for it with money the two men provided. Charges had not been filed against either person.

Security was tightened on Thursday around the hotel housing U.S. investigators looking into the attack on the Cole after a bomb threat was received. Yemeni officials said the telephone threat from an unknown caller was received around midnight. Yemeni and U.S. security officials held an emergency meeting in the early hours of the morning and adopted new security precautions, including ringing the hotel with machine-gun mounted military vehicles and stopping civilian traffic from approaching any closer than about 500 yards.

The bomb threat to the investigators came as the FBI technicians finished gathering evidence from the ship and were heading home. After some departures the day before, those remaining from around 80 technicians were to leave on Thursday. 

Rules Required USS Cole To Scan Boats

According to Pentagon anti-terrorism guidelines, security rules in effect the day the USS Cole was attacked by terrorists in Yemen required the crew to take special precautions against approaches by small harbor craft -- of the kind that sidled up to the Cole and detonated a bomb. A ship like the Cole normally would have only a small number of craft, such as inflatable boats or small boats, available to patrol around the ship's perimeter.

The full range of precautionary measures taken by the Cole prior to the attack in the port of Aden is not yet publicly known. But there has been no indication so far that harbor craft were seen as a threat.

INSTANT 09:00CDT - 25 Oct 2000

U.S. Said Warned Of Attack But Too Late For Cole

Bill Gertz and the Washington Times are reporting on Wednesday that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) issued a top-secret intelligence report on 12 October warning of a possible attack in the Middle East, but it was not distributed until hours after the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen. Intelligence officials raised questions about whether the military could have taken steps to prevent the attack if the alert had been received earlier.

The Times quoted an official as saying the report was specific about a possible attack in Yemen, but said other officials said the warning was more general and referred to the Gulf region. A source at NSA said there were no intelligence reports dealing specifically with threats to the USS Cole.

Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the report contained nothing of any significance. The official said: " For anyone to suggest that the shred of information in such a document could have prevented the attack is ridiculous. What's offered in that report, it really doesn't tell you anything of significance."

General Tommy Franks, in charge of the U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee today,  "...leading up to the attack on USS Cole on 12 October, we received no specific threat information for Yemen or for the port of Aden ...Had such a warning been received, action would have been taken by the operating forces in response."

The newspaper said the NSA usually requires 24 to 48 hours to gather, translate and disseminate its highly classified reports. The NSA warning stated that terrorists, who were not identified, were involved in operational planning for an attack on U.S. or Israeli personnel or property in the Middle East. 

Officials familiar with the report told the Times the NSA said members of the alleged terrorist organization were tracked to Dubai and Beirut as part of planning for the attack. The organization was identified in the NSA report as "a known group," although it was not identified. 

Both military and congressional sources told EmergencyNet News that all of the issues concerning the bombing of the Cole and related intelligence matters will be the subject of hearings in the Senate today (Wednesday) in Washington. An independent DoD review is also underway by Navy admiral Harold W. Gehman, and retired Army general William Crouch .

23 Oct 2000

A Sri Lankan press report said on Sunday that U.S. investigators are looking into whether Tamil Tiger rebels were involved in the bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. The Sunday Island newspaper said the U.S. was investigating whether Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are known for their signature suicide attacks, had a hand in the 12 October bombing. A similar hypothesis was first put forward by ERRI's Clark Staten in a report on 13 Oct 2000 (see below). 

SECRETARY COHEN ORDERS REVIEW OF USS COLE LESSONS LEARNED

*****

19 Oct 2000 - 06:00CDT

YEMEN

Cole Bombing Investigation Widened; Some "Detentions" Reported

Yemeni sources said on Thursday that investigators widened their probe into the bombing of the USS Cole to Saudi Arabia and to a far eastern Yemeni province known for its outlaw tribes. Also, FBI director Louis Freeh arrived and went directly to a meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yemeni security officials said Thursday that a search earlier this week of an Aden apartment where bomb-making equipment was found also yielded documents they believe originated in Hadhramaut, an eastern Yemeni province. A vehicle believed used by the attackers also contained documents traced to Hadhramaut. Investigators were dispatched Thursday to Hadhramaut, seeking more information to try to identify two men who used the Aden apartment and who have not been seen since the bombing.

Hadhramaut, a conservative region along the eastern border with Oman, is home to lawless tribes that have kidnapped foreigners for ransom. Yemeni sources said another team of investigators was going to neighboring Saudi Arabia on Thursday. The sources provided no information on the leads that took them there. Many Yemenis from Hadhramaut have settled in Saudi Arabia.

Investigators also were questioning the owner of a welding shop who had done welding for the suspects. A Yemeni boy told authorities that a bearded man wearing glasses gave him small change and told him to watch his car near the port on the day of the bombing. According to the child, the man then took to the sea in a rubber boat he had carried atop the car, and did not return. Yemeni police were apparently able to trace the man back to the apartment. Sources within Yemen say that Yemeni police have detained at least two people for more extensive questioning and that additional developments may be forthcoming...

18 Oct 2000 - from http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

YEMEN: 

Counter-Terrorism Explosives Expert's Thoughts On Yemen Bombing of U.S.S. Cole

Paul Copher, ERRI counter-terrorism analyst-at-large, sent along his analysis regarding last week's bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. Copher said the fact that the point of impact and the related damage to the ship may have to do with water concussion and blast pressure. He said: "I have not heard of the size of the small craft, but virtually the entire hull could have been backed with SEMTEX or C-4. I might also consider that the small craft 'could' have carried a conical shape charge attached under the hull. If underwater, this shaped charge would result in more than normal damage as the water itself would turn into a major force."

The counter-terrorism expert added: "The smudged hull of the Navy gray ship around the hole is more than likely from the vaporization of the craft, fuel, and occupants at water level. I noted no spalling at all as would commonly be found in a shell or torpedo hit. The casings would be thin but would surround the point of impact at various distances in a typical spalling effect."

Copher said that he was concerned that the steel of the hull leading down to the keel may have been structurally damaged and cracked. He said: "I had a chance to examine both a mine strike and a silk worm missile hit on some ships and this does appear to differ. The ends of the steel hull plates appear to have snapped, torn and ripped away rather than have a massive bending. The plates did not look as if they had been pushed out or pushed in. Just that a large hole appeared!" The steel may have been structurally changed due to the size of the blast and/or the action of a shaped or directional pressure wave.

Copher, who has extensive experience in U.S. counter-terrorism, also said: "I would not expect to find much of anything of the small craft except motor parts. At such high order detonations, the human body can be broken and shattered when at a lower order detonation it can be ripped or torn. I suspect the amounts of explosive given by the media is wrong. I would estimate over 1000 pounds of plastique, possibly much over. ANFO has never been popular overseas and would have to be kept pre-mixed in the surface craft. Some form of limpet mines could have been used as the initiators of the firing train. They would have to be adapted to a contact type or some form of magnetic detonator. The lack of any vast damage above the level of the holed area cannot be seen too well. As it looks fine on TV, the deck plates might be bowed upwards showing us that the impact did carry into the ship and spread upwards."

If this was on land, Copher said, he would put the amount of explosive higher. "Shooting" or cracking steel plates is an exact science with the bomber normally using pre-shaped line charges cut to order and backed with wood and metal frames. Underwater or at water level, 55 gallon drums of plastique either in the boat or towed underwater could have accomplished an act like this one. Water under explosive pressure at a high order detonation is like a steel fist. The tensile strength of the ship hull is the only factor Copher said he could not answer.

Copher concluded: "As a post blast investigator, I was trained to build bombs and evaluate the effects on planned targets. To understand what did this damage we have to approach it with the idea of 'how can we recreate this.' With my understanding of terrorist teaching and training techniques in bombs and improvised explosive devices gathered since 1976 in the Middle East."

"With that type of explosive background and given they had or hired one expert on hydraulic pressures and their effects on steel, I am sure it was a well planned event just waiting to be implemented. The missing section of hull plate would act as a giant platter charge propelled by the detonation and the water. This huge platter would then sever and smash through to the interior of the ship at 100's of miles an hour," Copher concluded.

Excerpt from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Monday, October 16, 2000-Vol. 6, NO. 291

YEMEN

U.S. Bolsters Probe, Salvage in Ship Bombing

U.S. officials said investigators sifted through the wreckage of the USS Cole on Sunday to piece together clues about the apparent suicide bombing of the destroyer that killed 17 sailors. Close to 100 investigators, salvage experts, engineers and support teams were now on site in the southern Yemeni port of Aden to recover the bodies of ten sailors still missing, patch a big hole in the side of the ship and search for clues.

Personnel arrived in Yemen from the Foreign Emergency Support Team, a Marine security platoon and the FBI. Two U.S. Navy surface combatant vessels were operating in or near Yemeni territorial waters to provide communications and other support and additional forces may be deployed to the area if needed.

In Washington, defense officials said on Saturday that a source in the Middle East had warned Washington of a possible attack on a ship before the attack, but that the warning was too vague to raise an immediate alarm. Pentagon officials and security experts said the suicide attack at Aden was well planned, using high explosives to blast a gaping hole in the USS Cole. 

Two little-known Muslim groups have said they attacked the destroyer. One group under investigation has previously been linked to the kidnapping of tourists and the bombing of a hotel in Aden. In the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Saturday, a team of British forensic experts flew have flown in to investigate a separate explosion at the British embassy on Friday.

Excerpted from: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Saturday, October 14, 2000-Vol. 6, No. 289

YEMEN

U.S. Investigators Look For Clues In Terror Attack

U.S. investigators were due on Saturday to go on board the USS Cole to search for clues that would shed light on the apparent suicide bombing of the U.S. Navy warship at Aden in which 17 sailors are believed to have been killed. Divers had so far not found any of the ten sailors missing in the blast, which ripped into the destroyer leaving a 30-by-40 foot hole in its side.

While not officially raising the death toll in Thursday's attack, U.S. officials in Washington said on Friday they were now working on the assumption that 17 sailors lost their lives, and that the ten still listed as missing were dead. One female sailor was among the dead and another was among the missing. Seven bodies had been recovered from the blast that also wounded at least 40 people.

The U.S. embassy in Sanaa said Federal Bureau of Investigation experts were already in Yemen and more were on the way. A Yemeni official said more U.S. investigators and medical staff were expected in Aden and their number would reach 120.

Two little-known Muslim groups have claimed responsibility for the attack and U.S. officials said a Yemen-based terrorist group had said it was behind the bombing. Certain to be under investigation is Yemen's Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, the only well known terrorist group in the Arab country. Yemen had said the group had been reduced to small cells after the 1999 execution of its leader for the kidnapping and killing of Western hostages, including Americans.

Reports emerged on Friday that said that the day before a rubber raft carrying explosives attacked the Cole, a leading newspaper in Jordan printed a statement from an unknown terrorist organization threatening to target U.S., British and Israeli ships and planes. The group, known as "Al Nitha al-Wahdawi" (New Unified Fighters Group), handed a typed statement to the editor of Al-Bilad on Wednesday giving the United States one month to meet eight demands, including the withdrawal of U.S. military ships brought to the area.

Independent terrorism expert Steve Emerson, who noticed the newspaper item, said it was particularly significant because U.S. ships were mentioned. He said: "There have been threats like this in the past, but never this specific. "Here they were specific about ships in the Persian Gulf."

*****

U.S. Department Of State Issues Updated Travel 

Warning

On 12 October, the U.S. Department of State issued the following updated Travel Warning for Yemen: "The Department of State warns United States citizens to defer travel to Yemen in light of recent events. On October 12, 2000, several American citizens were killed and many more were injured in an incident involving a U.S. Navy ship in port in Aden, Yemen in what may have been a terrorist attack.

In October 1999, following the execution of the leader of an anti-Western terrorist group responsible for abducting 16 Western tourists in southern Yemen in December 1998, persons claiming to speak on behalf of the organization warned Westerners they would be attacked if they did not leave Yemen. While this threat was not carried out, four of the 16 kidnapped tourists had been killed during a previous clash between the terrorists and Yemeni government forces. In a related case, six extremists were arrested by Yemeni authorities on December 23, 1998, and accused of planning to bomb Western targets in Yemen.

As these incidents indicate, the level of risk for foreigners in Yemen remains high. More than 100 kidnappings have occurred throughout Yemen since 1991. In addition to the one noted above, American citizens were the victims of kidnappings in late October 1999 and January 2000. These kidnappings are mainly conducted by armed tribesmen with grievances against the Yemeni government. They are normally resolved peacefully within a few days, although in rare cases tribesmen have held some foreigners for extended periods.

Some kidnappings or attempted kidnappings are initiated by carjacking. American citizens in Yemen should exercise a very high level of caution, vary routes and times of daily commute, and travel between cities only by air or with an armed escort." Following the attack against the USS Cole in Aden on 12 October and the explosion at the British Embassy in Sana'a, ERRI analysts advise against all travel to Yemen.

Foreign nationals in Islamic countries or countries with a large Islamic population, should exercise particular caution given heightened tension in the Middle East. ERRI analysts believe that Yemen is one of a number of countries where there is an increased threat to Western interests from global terrorism. Foreign nationals already in Yemen are advised to keep a low profile and to keep in touch with developments in the region.

YEMEN: AUTHORITIES IN STATE OF DENIAL ABOUT ALMOST EVERYTHING INVOLVING TERRORISM... 

Instant   - 11:00CDT - 13 Oct 2000   

Yemeni Admiral Denies that Cole Explosion Was A Terrorist Attack

The United Press International is reporting today that a senior Yemeni official on Saturday rejected United States statements that the explosion on a U.S. Navy destroyer which killed 17 servicemen was an apparent act of terrorism. The commander of the Yemeni naval base of Aden, Gen. Mohammad Ali Ibrahim, reportedly told UPI that initial investigations into Thursday's explosion that ripped through the side of the USS Cole off the coast of Aden showed it was not caused "intentionally by external forces." He said the explosion "was most likely caused by a technical malfunction in the U.S. destroyer itself...the large hole the explosion left in the vessel shows it is far-fetched that it was caused by explosive devices, no matter how big."  U.S. officials say they are convinced that the explosion was caused by Islamic suicide bombers and that an inspection of the damaged ship reveals an explosion, external to the ship. 

*****

08:30CDT - 13 Oct 2000

Blast At British Embassy

Sana'a, Yemen (EmergencyNet News) -- Embassy officials said no injuries were reported when an explosion occurred at the British Embassy in Yemen's capital on Friday. The blast shattered windows at the embassy and neighboring buildings. The explosion in Sana'a just after dawn shattered windows at the three-story embassy as well as a neighboring school and the nearby Dutch Embassy. 

The latest reports coming from the region indicate a difference of opinion between British and Yemeni investigators about the cause of the explosion at the embassy. British officials are saying that the blast was caused by a bomb tossed over the mission wall, while Yemeni officials maintain that the explosion was "due to a power generator explosion." 

The explosion came just one day after U.S. officials say suicide bombers in a small boat blew a gaping hole in a U.S. warship at a refueling stop in the Aden, Yemen, harbor, about 180 miles southwest of the capital San'a. The blast killed six members of the crew, injured 35 and left 11 missing.

Many of the details of the British Embassy incident remain unclear at the time of this report and forensic examination of the scene continues.  EmergencyNet News will issue continued updates as the circumstances warrant...

*****

Instant   - 09:00CDT - 13 Oct 2000  

UNITED STATES

Bin Laden Associates Come Under Suspicion In Yemeni Ship Bombing

As U.S. experts probed the deadly attack on a U.S. Navy warship in Yemen, suspicion immediately centered on master terrorist Usama bin Laden and the terrorist network he operates out of Afghanistan. POTUS left no doubt on Thursday that he again would strike a hard blow once a joint U.S.-Yemeni investigation determined who attacked the USS Cole, killing or wounding dozens of sailors as it docked at the port of Aden. The President said: "If, as it now appears, this was an act of terrorism, it was a despicable and cowardly act. We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable."

Known to operate in Yemen, as well, are several deadly groups: the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and "the Islamic Army of Aden," whose leader, Zein al-Abidine al-Midhar was executed by firing squad two years ago in the hostage-taking of two Americans and 14 other Western tourists. The groups' militancy and location automatically make them suspects. A claim of responsibility, in the name of the "Army of Mohammed" and/or the "Army of Aden-Abyan," was also reported by militant Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed  in England on Thursday

Others under suspicion when terrorists strike include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Abu Nidal organization. Both have been relatively quiet lately. HAMAS and the Iranian-backed Palestine Islamic Jihad group both have a presence in Yemen but are not known to have attacked Americans specifically. While weighing eyewitness accounts and the kind of explosive used in the attack, investigators are considering motivation and capability, the groups' track record and how far afield they tend to operate. Above all others, the bin Laden group is the one that comes to mind first in terms of method of operation and long-reach capability.

Counter-terrorism experts say that the attack was a suicide operation that only a handful of groups in the Middle East carry out -- Hezbollah, HAMAS, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the bin Laden network. One expert said of bin Laden: "He has access in Yemen, his father comes from southern Yemen and he has close ties with the Islamic Army of Aden, a militant group set up by bin Laden's brother, Muhammad Khalifa." There are groups associated with bin Laden in Yemen that he funds and supports, and he reportedly has a camp inside the country.

Yonah Alexander, director of the Washington-based International Center for Terrorism, suggested the Egyptian Islamic Jihad was a logical suspect. He said: "They do have the capability for maritime terrorism and there is no question it is one of the major legs of the bin Laden organization."

Steven Emerson, a terrorism expert, said the motive and capability point to an Islamic fundamentalist organization, one probably associated with bin Laden. And, Emerson said in an interview: "We have to consider a Hezbollah connection" because that militant group has a better vessel capability than any other one. He added: "There is only a finite number of suspects with the capability of carrying this out."

Clark Staten, ERRI's top counter-terrorism analyst, said that the tactics used in Yemen are very similar to those that have previously been employed by Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers (LTTE). "That doesn't mean that the Tigers are involved in the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, only that these small boat/suicide tactics have previously been utilized with success in the conflict in Sri Lanka," Staten said. "Although we don't have enough facts at this time to draw a firm conclusion, ERRI's latest hypothesis of the U.S.S. Cole incident would suggest that a familiar pattern is emerging that might involve a small group of people brought together just for the purpose of undertaking this attack," he added.  

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner said that a group with a documented history of "terrorist" activities, possibly linked to bin Laden said it had carried out the attack. Senator Warner said: "A known terrorist group in Yemen is now trying to claim they are responsible." He did not identify the group and said the Pentagon was "in the process of trying to evaluate the validity of the claim."

*****

Instant   - 10:00CDT - 12 Oct 2000

YEMEN

U.S. Navy Ship Rammed In Aden, Yemen; Explosion Follows

The U.S. Defense Department said that at least four sailors were killed and at least 30 others were injured when a U.S. Navy ship in port on the Arabian Peninsula was struck on Thursday by a small boat in what appears to be an apparent terrorist attack. Another sailor was reported missing. The registry of the boat was not immediately known, and no one has claimed responsibility.

The destroyer USS Cole, with a crew of about 350 sailors, was in port at Aden, Yemen, for refueling when it was rammed and an explosion followed. Details of the incident were sketchy, but officials at the Pentagon said it appeared that the small boat was carrying some form of high-explosive powerful enough to rip a large hole in the side of the U.S. ship.

At the U.S. Justice Department, Attorney General Janet Reno declined to comment on a possible terrorist link. She said a team of FBI agents was sent to the scene. Asked if consideration is being given to putting on a worldwide terrorist alert at U.S. installations, she replied, "That is an issue that is being addressed." 

Because the Cole had just arrived in Aden and was due to remain there only for four hours to take on fuel, U.S. officials said they believed the boat's mission was a planned act of terrorism. U.S. Navy ships commonly stop in Aden for refueling.

At about 1215 hours local time, a U.S. Army major who works at the U.S. Embassy in Aden saw a small rubber boat of unknown nationality ram the destroyer, tearing a 20-foot-by-40-foot hole in the port side. In addition to four Americans killed, five were seriously injured and a total of 31 suffered some form of injury. Flooding aboard the Cole was contained and no fires were reported. The ship was listing four degrees to its port side after the explosion. The Cole is a destroyer of the Burke class.

© EmergencyNet News Service, 2000. All rights reserved. Redistribution or publication without the expressed consent of ERRI/EmergencyNet News is prohibited.

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