Attack on U.S. warship kills 17

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 13. The U.S. administration today warned that it would not remain a silent spectator after a powerful explosion ripped a hole in a U.S. Navy Destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing at least seventeen sailors on Thursday.

According to an AFP report from London, a radical Muslim group, Mohammed's Army, today claimed responsibility for the attack. In his initial reaction, the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, 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.'' The President's words were echoed by senior officials of the State Department and the Pentagon.

The USS Cole, carrying about 350 sailors, was refuelling in Aden, 300 km south of the capital Sanaa, at the time of the attack. American military planes evacuated 22 of the injured from Yemen to Germany for medical treatment. Soon after, the British Embassy in Sanaa was extensively damaged by an explosion overnight, but no one was hurt.

The Secretary of State, Ms. Madeleine Albright, said the incident did not mean that the U.S. would ``retreat from our responsibilities'' in the region. ``We are operating in a world that is filled with a variety of threats. But that does not mean that we can crawl into an ostrich-like mode. We are eagles,'' Ms. Albright said.

She also asked the people not to jump to conclusions; that she has talked to the President of Yemen, and that he had pledged all cooperation. Mr. Ali Abdullah Saleh told American television that his country did not harbour terrorist elements and that he did not think the attack was a terrorist one. ``No one should assume they can attack us with impunity. If, as it appears, it was the act of terrorists, then we will do everything in our power to track them down and hold them accountable,'' the Defence Secretary, Mr. William Cohen, said at a press briefing.

Officials said a small boat helping the USS Cole with mooring lines may have been involved in what is being seen as a suicide bombing. Two men on the small boat are said to have stood at attention just before the blast.

The Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mr. John Warner, said that a terrorist group possibly linked to Osama bin Laden, has claimed to have carried out the attack on the USS Cole. ``A known terrorist group in Yemen is now trying to claim they are responsible.''

Navy officials also said explosives experts who examined the ship's damaged hull have concluded the blast came from an external source, adding to evidence that the blast was deliberate.

Seven embassies closed

NAIROBI, OCT. 13. The U.S. today ordered its diplomatic missions in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Djibouti to temporarily close as a result of the escalating West Asia crisis, a U.S. official told AFP here.

The State Department ordered the closures in telegrams sent to the various embassies, said the official, who asked not to be named. Mr. Tom Hart, Nairobi Embassy spokesman, said the order had taken effect at about 10:00 am in Nairobi. ``Everybody was told to go home,'' he said.

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