Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Agreement on Cole investigation near; more FBI agents to leave

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Saturday, November 18, 2000

Agreement on Cole investigation near; more FBI agents to leave

By Michael J. Sniffen
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - With their dispute over investigative procedures receding, Yemenis and the FBI have made so much progress probing the attack on the USS Cole that the bureau is bringing home more agents and its on-scene commander, a senior FBI official said Friday.
   The announcement by Assistant FBI Director Dale Watson, head of the bureau's counterterrorism division, did not detail that progress. However, Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Iryani said in an interview that the two men who carried out the suicide bombing last month have been identified as Yemeni veterans of the U.S.-backed guerrilla war to drive Soviet forces from Afghanistan.
   Al-Iryani also told The Washington Post that one of the men who steered the small boat carrying plastic explosives into the U.S. ship was a Yemeni born in the eastern province of Hadramaut.
   Although U.S. officials declined to comment on the Yemeni official's remarks, Watson said, "Investigation by Yemeni authorities and sustained cooperation with U.S. efforts continue to result in more than satisfactory progress."
   The FBI presence in Yemen, which once involved more than 150 agents and evidence technicians, had dropped by late October to fewer than 40. The previous withdrawals came after most of the physical evidence was retrieved from the ship and from several houses in the port of Aden where the attackers apparently prepared their boat.
   FBI officials said some agents would remain in Yemen after John O'Neill, the FBI's senior onsite commander, returns to his New York office, but they would not predict how many. U.S. officials said Friday they are near signing an agreement with the Yemenis on a resolution of the dispute between the FBI and Yemeni investigators over whether U.S. agents could interview witnesses and suspects in custody there. A formal written agreement has not yet been signed, but it appeared FBI agents would be able to observe interviews and submit questions, while not participating directly in questioning, they said.
   That resolution would preserve Yemeni sovereignty while letting the FBI gather evidence that could be admitted to U.S. courts.

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