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Tanker blast spawns a Yemeni coast
guard
By Nabil Sultan
SANA'A,
Yemen - The political spillover from the terrorist
attack on the French tanker Limburg is beginning to
spread as wide as the oil that flowed from its breached
hull.
That this was a terrorist attack and no
accident is now certain. "The results of investigations
into the blast along with French and US anti-terrorism
prosecutors proved undoubtedly that the explosion was a
deliberate terrorist act by an explosives-laden boat,"
Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi said following
investigations.
The boat that hit the Limburg
was remote-controlled, Yemeni officials now say. The
attack on the Limburg on October 6 came almost two years
after the attack on the USS Cole off Aden port on
October 12, 2000. Seventeen US sailors died in the
attack on the Cole and 39 were injured.
"Our
security systems found a house near Mukalla port in
which the boat is said to have been prepared for the
attack," al-Alimi said. "Security forces have arrested
many suspects and placed them under investigation." But
he could not be certain whether al-Qaeda supporters were
behind the explosion. He offered no details on how many
people had been detained or who they were.
"Islamic groups in Yemen are uniting," says the
radical London-based cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri who is
wanted by Yemeni authorities for links with the Aden
Army, an extremist Yemeni organization that claimed
responsibility for the Limburg attack. "Al-Qaeda members
are joining other groups." He did not name the other
groups.
The Aden Army has been blamed for
attacks against US and British interests since 1998. It
has said the attack was carried out to avenge the
execution of its leader Abu al-Hassan, known as the
al-Mihdar, in 1999.
Yemeni officials say the
attacks are being carried out by a small group of
radical youths. But efforts to upgrade security against
them do not seem to have worked. These groups "harm the
reputation of Yemen and damage its environment and
economy," al-Alimi said.
Investigations into the
attack on the Limburg have brought difficult political
issues in their wake. The government is grappling with
questions of al-Qaeda links with extremist groups in
Yemen. And there is strong debate over how far Yemen
should accept US help in fighting terrorism.
The
US has offered active support to Yemen to fight these
groups. "The value of a coast guard becomes apparent,"
Gen Tommy Franks, commander-in-chief of the US Central
Command, said on a visit to Yemen October 17. He
discussed several lines of US support for anti-terrorism
operations in a meeting with President Ali Abdallah
Saleh. Following that meeting, the US will deliver a
first shipment of nine boats early next year to
strengthen the Yemeni coast guard.
US Assistant
Secretary of State William Burns followed up that visit
with a meeting with President Saleh in Sana'a on October
26. "We are committed to help the Yemeni government in
the economic field and to fight radicals here," Burns
said.
Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qerbi said
after the meeting that there was a similarity of views
on some issues, but that clear political divisions had
arisen. President Saleh called US plans to oust Saddam
Hussein illogical.
"This kind of presentation
may affect international relations," Saleh said. "It
allows any strong country to change a regime in any
other country, and this violates national sovereignty.
We also strongly oppose linking terror to Islam."
Several analysts are apprehensive about the new
relations with the US. "I think our government knows how
dangerous military cooperation with the US can be,"
political analyst Mohammed Saeed told IPS.
The
US has been supporting social projects in Sana'a and in
other provinces. But many Yemenis are opposed to US
bases on Yemeni land or sea. "America takes more than it
gives," says Hamoud Bisher, a computer engineer. "US
forces should go to Palestine to protect innocent
children," says Fakhri Rajab, a retired soldier. The US
help is on offer; accepting it is the problem.
(Inter Press Service)
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