Blast
Rocks U.S. Navy Ship, 6 Die
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
12:02 PM ET 10/12/00
WASHINGTON (AP) - A powerful explosion
rocked a U.S. Navy ship in port on the Arabian Peninsula
Thursday in an apparent suicide terrorist bombing that
killed at least six Americans and injured more than 30,
the Defense Department said. Twelve sailors were
missing. No one has claimed responsibility, U.S.
officials said.
The destroyer USS Cole, with a crew of
about 350 sailors, was in port at Aden, Yemen, for
refueling when a small craft came alongside the ship and
an explosion followed, according to Lt. Cmdr. Daren
Pelkie, spokesman for the Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters
in Manama, Bahrain.
At a State Department news conference,
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declared: ``We
will hold those who committed it accountable and take
appropriate steps.''
She said this is no time for the
United States to ``retreat from our responsibilities''
in the region.
``We are operating in a world that is
filled with a variety of threats. But that doesn't mean
that we can crawl into an ostrichlike mode. We are
eagles,'' Albright said.
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 _ 20 feet by 40 feet
_ in the side of the U.S. ship. The boat was of the kind
used in normal harbor operations in the port of Aden,
according to a Pentagon official familiar with official
reports from the scene. The official, who discussed the
matter on condition of anonymity, said the boat crew had
helped secure the Cole's mooring lines at the fueling
dock before it came alongside the ship.
Two men were seen standing up in the
small boat before the
explosion, the official said. He said there was no doubt
that the
explosion came from the small boat but it was not clear
whether the
boat rammed the ship.
Pelkie said at least 36 sailors were
reported injured and 12 were missing, in addition to
four confirmed dead. The injured were taken to a local
hospital and U.S. Navy medical teams were dispatched to
the scene from Bahrain. Flooding on the ship was
reported to be contained and there were no reports of
fire.
The explosion ``was so loud I thought
it was from inside the hotel. The windows in 21 of our
33 rooms were shattered, and many of the television sets
fell and broke,'' said Ahmed Mohammed Al-Naderi, manager
of the port-side Rock Hotel. ``Thank God, none of the
guests or hotel personnel were injured.''
Al-Naderi said he could see the Cole
from his hotel.
``It has a big hole in it, but it
doesn't appear to be sinking. There are some people on
board, and some small boats around it.'' President
Clinton was notified of the incident by his national
security adviser, Sandy Berger, said White House
spokesman Jake Siewert. The president called Defense
Secretary William Cohen, urging him and Berger to find
out what happened. ``He's obviously troubled by it,''
Siewert said. ``He wants to know what happened.''
Siewert said the incident ``appears to be a terrorist
bombing but we don't know what happened.'' Albright said
she had talked with Ali Abdallah Saleh, the president of
Yemen, and said he pledged support in the investigation.
She urged caution in attributing the
incident to a terrorist attack. ``We first have to be
careful here. We have to make an assessment of the
facts.''
She called the incident a ``great
tragedy,'' and reiterated: ``If it does appear it is a
terrorist attack, we obviously will take appropriate
steps.''
At the Justice Department, Attorney
General Janet Reno declined to comment on a possible
terrorist link. She said FBI agents in the region have
been sent to the scene and that the bureau was putting
together investigators, explosives experts and an
evidence response team to send as well. The nearest FBI
legal attaches are stationed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Asked if consideration is being given
to putting on a worldwide terrorist alert at U.S.
installations, she said, ``That is an issue that is
being addressed.''
Albright said security for U.S.
personnel overseas has been one of the ``prime issues''
for the Clinton administration. 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. The ship had passed through the Suez Canal on
Monday and sailed down the Red Sea before arriving in
Aden on the Gulf of Aden, Pelkie said.
U.S. Navy ships commonly stop in Aden
for refueling. The region has been swept in recent weeks
by demonstrations, some of them violent and often with
an anti-U.S. tone, sparked by Israeli-Palestinian
clashes in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Pro-Palestinian rallies have been held daily in Yemen.
William Arkin, a military expert who specializes in Gulf
affairs, said Yemen became a more frequent refueling
stop for Navy ships following a December 1997 U.S.
government policy decision to open up contacts and
cooperation with the country.
Thursday's explosion was heard all
over Aden and ambulances were seen rushing to the port.
The injured were removed to local hospitals and the Navy
was flying a medical team from Bahrain. At about 12:15
p.m. local time, or 5:15 a.m. EDT, 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's port
side, Pelkie said. Flooding aboard the Cole was
contained and no fires were reported, the spokesman
said. The ship was listing four degrees to its port side
after the explosion.
The Cole is a ship of the Burke
destroyer class and carries sophisticated Aegis
weaponry. Its home port is Norfolk, Va. It was en route
to the Persian Gulf.
Navy Offers Phone for Yemen Ship
Kin
By The Associated Press
10:47 AM ET 10/12/00
The U.S. Navy set up a toll-free
telephone number for relatives of crew of the USS Cole,
the destroyer hit by a major explosion while in port in
Aden, Yemen, on Thursday. The number, 1-800-368-3202, is
intended to provide information on the condition of the
ship and its crew. The Cole, with a crew of about 350,
is home-ported at Norfolk, Va., and is part of the USS
George Washington carrier battle group. The explosion
occurred while the ship made a refueling stop at Aden
while transiting from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Persian Gulf.
Related Links:
On the Net: USS Cole is at
http://www.spear.navy.mil/ships/ddg67/
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